Connected By Dreams
by Cocoon02
Summary: 600 years after Fang and Vanille's sacrifice, Hope Estheim is wandering Pulse. After a chance encounter with Lightning in the woods, (whom he hasn't seen in all those centuries) something amazing happens, bringing back someone he's been looking for this whole time. . .
1. Chance Encounter

**Author's ****Note:** This is my first fanfic, so I apologize of it's not any good! I am a huge Final Fantasy fan, and this idea has been in my head for a while. . . It takes place 600 years after the ending of FF-13, but nothing from FF 13-2 is taken into account. This fanfic ignores all of that. Anyhoo, I must make this clear, there are some parts in this story that might make it seem like I support Hope&Lightning, but I don't. I support Hope&Vanille all the way! Hope and Lightning are good friends, but that's all there is to it.

Getting back to the point, hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

Hope Estheim had abandoned society long ago. It had nothing to offer him, in fact, large clusters of people made him claustrophobic, smothering him with the memory of what had been lost. He was eighteen years old then.

But centuries had passed since then, and the only places on the planet he hadn't been were cities. He'd experienced nearly everything imaginable, and relied on no one but himself.

He had no particular destination that day. He was driven by a strong sense that he should be going _that_ _way._

Hope had learned to trust feelings like that.

Being in the middle of the forest, his surroundings stayed pretty much the same. Foliage, the occasional animal. Everything being so similar, any little difference did not go unnoticed.

In this case, the difference was the smell of smoke.

There was a nice wind blowing, so realistically, the source of the smell could have been anywhere in a several mile radius.

But it wasn't.

It was still a good distance away though. It took another half hour of walking before he found it.

And them.

The source of the smell turned out to be a huge, charred, stinking chunk of forest that had been mostly burned to the ground. . . and was covered in dead bodies.

Or. . . what was left of them.

That same feeling he'd felt earlier compelled Hope to walk among the wreckage, searching for what had drawn him there. He pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth, trying not to breathe in the ashes he kicked up, trying not to wonder _who_ he might be breathing in.

But there was one thing he did wonder, _what happened?_

There were some small fires still burning, and the whole place gave off heat, indicating that this happened only a few hours ago. The area was almost perfectly rounded, like a bomb had done this. But what was there to bomb out here?

He glanced down at one of the bodies. These guys, apparently.

He heard a moan from behind him.

He pivoted around so quickly that he kicked up a cloud of ash and forgot to hold his shirt over his mouth. As he coughed and waved away the ashes floating in front of his face, he tried to find who had moaned. At first he didn't see anything, it was all dead. He thought maybe he'd imagined the moan.

But then it happened again.

This time he didn't just stand and look; he searched. He was sure now that he'd heard something, and if someone really was alive, he had to make sure they stayed that way.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless searching, Hope was about ready to give up. Maybe he really had imagined it.

He was giving the area one last visual sweep when he saw movement. A hand flexing it's fingers. He rushed over, careful not to step on anyone. The person was trapped under a fallen tree. They moaned again.

Hope proceeded to lift the burned, crumbling tree off of them, As he did, the person below him whispered his name.

"H-Hope?"

Hope stared into the familliar blue eyes of his friend, not believing it was actually her, "Lightning?"

Her reply was weak, "I-" her eyelids fluttered and she went limp.

"Lightning!"

He set down the tree and knelt beside her. Her breathing was shallow but steady. It was really her. He'd never seen her so vulnerable. It was odd.

Hope felt eyes on the back of his neck. He froze on instinct, but turned around after a few seconds. He scanned the treeline. He didn't see anyone, but he didn't let his guard down.

Throwing one last suspicious glance at the trees, he turned back to Lightning. She'd be alright, he knew that better than anyone, but he still had to take care of her. Aside from a bad burn on her left arm, she appeared, outwardly, to be okay.

The feeling that he was being watched intensified and he trusted it. Someone was out there.

But for now, they were just watching.

And he would take advantage of that. By pretending he didn't know they were there, but all the while not letting his guard down.

He had to take Lightning somewhere safe. He rembered following a stream, sort of, a ways back. He'd eventually abandoned it because the stream doubled back. But he rembered passing a cave. A small one, only about as deep as a full-grown man was tall, but that didn't matter.

He picked Lightning up, careful not to jostle her, and marched back the way he came. He kept his eyes and ears open, sure he was being followed.

After about an hour he realized that the stream and the cave were farther away than he thought. But it mattered little, distance and time didn't mean much to him anymore.

Suddenly, Lightning stirred in his arms. She moaned and opened her eyes. Blinked twice.

"Wha-?" she looked around, dazed.

"Hey, Light." Hope said.

She stared up at him, "Hope? You're-you're alive? I- we, thought you were. . . you were gone so long. . ."

Hope held her close as he ducked under a particularly low branch, "Yeah." he said as he continued on, "Sorry about that."

"Where are we?" Lightning asked him.

"Middle of the woods." he said cryptically.

"Why are you in the middle of the woods?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Hope deflected.

"Good question." she said, staring up at the trees.

"Hold on tight." Hope instructed her. She did so, wrapping her arms around his neck. He jumped into a stream.

"Where are we going?" Lightning asked. She felt like a child, asking all these simple questions.

"Shelter." was all Hope said.

All of a sudden, Lightning's left arm felt like it was on fire.

"Damnit!" she cried.

Hope stopped walking, "What?"

"My arm." she said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah, you've got a nasty burn there." Hope began walking again.

He sounded as though it was as serious as a paper cut. Lightning stared at the inflamed flesh on her arm. _How did that happen? _she thought.

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"Beats me." Hope manuvered through some large rocks, "But I'm assuming you came in contact with fire." he used overexaggerated sarcasm.

"_No_." she said with an equal amount of sarcasm.

"Yeah, wierd isn't it?" he laughed, a welcome sound. A sound she hadn't heard in a long time.

Lightning tightened her grip on Hope's neck. It finally sunk in that he was carrying her. She'd forgotten that he was bigger than her now. And probably stronger too, she could feel that in the firmness with which he held her. She knew that he would not drop her. She felt safe in his arms.

_What a twist._ she thought. When she'd met him, he was this small, weak kid. But now. . . now he was all grown up. Strong. she studied his face, and found that she could still see the boy behind the man's features.

"What are you staring at?" he joked.

"How old are you?" she asked, suddenly curious.

"Physically, you mean? Uh. . ." he thought for a moment, "Twenty-two."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Don't know. I just do." he smiled triumphantly, "Here we are." He'd finally found the cave.

He set Lightning down just inside the cave, "I'll be right back." he told her. Then he dissappeared behind some trees.

Lightning made herself comfortable, and pressed her burnt arm against the cool rock to draw the heat out. It brought wondrous relief.

_But why is he out here? _was her next thought. She got the sense that he was no stranger to the woods. But why? And how was it that he just happened to be in the same part of the woods that she was in? Why was she in the woods? So many questions, not enough information. Come to think of it, she had no memory of the last several weeks.

Hope came back then with some logs. He arranged then in a pile and took a match out of his pocket. He swiped it until it lit, then threw it on the logs, which caught instantly.

"You've done that before." Lightning stated.

"A few times." Hope replied. He glanced up at the darkening sky, "It's getting dark." his eyes swept the surrounding trees, "You should rest."

Lightning thought he was acting a little odd, but she _was_ a little tired, "Okay." she said. But before she even thought about lying down, she added, "Hey, Hope?"

"Hm?"

She hesitated, "I. . . missed you."

He gave her a slow nod, "I missed you too."

* * *

**And thus, the first chapter ends. Sorry if it was a little boring, again, I'm new at this. But believe me, the next chapter will be better. **


	2. Lost Again

Hours after Lightning had fallen asleep, Hope was still awake. He knew someone was out there, and there was _no way_ he was going to sleep until he was 100% sure they were gone.

After another hour, he realized what he should have a long time ago.

They weren't going to leave.

"I know you're out there." he said to the air, "No use hiding anymore."

A few moments of silence, then, "I never could hide from you." The voice was familiar.

But it couldn't be him, he died.

Didn't he?

Apparently not, because Trip stepped into the firelight, "Suprised to see me?" he said.

"A bit." Hope replied.

Trip sized him up, "You haven't changed much." he concluded.

"Neither have you." Hope returned, "Though I've never seen you out of uniform."

Trip just grunted, then turned his gaze to Lightning, "Who's she?"

Hope stood, and placed himself between Trip and Lightning, "She's a friend."

"Did you give up on that one girl? What was her name. . ."

Hope clenched his jaw, "Never."

"No, of course not." Trip stated, "If you were in love with this one, you wouldn't have known I was following you. Love is blind you see."

Hope just ignored him, "Why were you following us? Why are you even out here?"

At this, Trip remained silent.

Behing Hope, Lightning began to stir. When he heard her sit up, he said, "Stay put, Light."

"Hope what-?"

"Just stay out of it."

The tension in the air was so thick you could almost feel it, and Lightning didn't like it, but she listened to Hope.

"Don't worry." Trip said to her, a sly grin crossing his face, " The _hero_ just wants to keep the little girl away from the big, bad man. Isn't that right, Hope?"

Hope was glaring now, Lightning could see the fire in his eyes, "Not big bad man," he said, "more like big bad _ghost_."

Trip's smile dissappeared, "That's right, you thought I was dead, didn't you? You guys just _left_ me in that compound."

"No we-"

"Yes you did!" Trip growled, "You left me there, and I was captured by those bloody rebels!Tthey held me for _two years!_"

"Yeah, you and twelve other people!" Hope fought to keep his voice level, "We tried to go back. But we were anbushed, we had to retreat!"

"You left me there to DIE!" Trip shouted. And before anyone could even blink, he tackled Hope to the ground. Hope tried to throw him off, but Trip's rage fuled him. Trip stayed on top, one hand crushing Hope's throat, one leg crushing his chest.

"Let's see how long the little girl survives," Trip growled through gritted teeth, "once I take you out!"

Hope struggled to breathe, though he knew it didn't matter, as Trip pressed down harder on his chest. He thought he felt something break. Through the pain, a vague plan formed in his mind, and he bent his right leg as far as he could, hoping that his attacker took it as a feeble arrempt to escape.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lightning, her old instinct to protect him obviously causing internal conflict.

He closed his eyes, and reached for the pocket knife he kept in his shoe. He silently flipped the blade out. Not even bothering to fight against Trip anymore, he opened his syes and looked straight into Trip's, as he slashed without hesitation.

The response was almost instantaneous. Blood splattered onto him, and Trip released hin, getting up and howling in rage and pain.

Hope slowly got up, pain searing through his body. Something was definately broken. "Ever heard the phrase," he coughed out, "blind rage?"

Trip growled as the maroon stain quickly continued to spread, "You might have won this round, kid. But this isn't over."

Despite his efforts, Hope grunted in pain, and Trip smiled trimphantly.

"For me anyway." he said, before he ran off.

When Trip could no longer be heard crashing through the forest, Hope collapsed onto the ground and moaned. Lightning rushed over in time to keep his head from hitting the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked, "Who is he?"

Hope coughed a few times, which hurt, before answering, which hurt, "His name is Trip. He's an old army buddy of mine."

"Some buddy." Lightning replied, eyeing the somewhat-formed bruises on Hope's neck.

"Yeah, well-" Hope coughed again.

Lightning hoped her worry wasn't showing, because he was starting to scare her. He was sweating profusely and he was shaking like a leaf.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked shakily.

She didn't respond, she just stared at him, worry mounting.

"Listen, Light. I'm going to be fine." But then his body convulsed, curving his spine upward. He cried out in pain. When it was over, he lay with his eyes closed, taking deep, shaky breaths.

Lightning wiped his sweat-soaked hair out of his face. "What did he do to you?" she mumbled.

"I think." he gasped, "I think he broke something." he grimaced.

Made sense. She gently placed a hand on his chest. She could feel the heat radiating from it before she even touched him. Immediately, Hope gasped again. She removed her hand, not wanting to cause him more pain.

Lightning didn't talk anymore after that. Neither did Hope. The former just sat there, listening to the breathing of the latter, which was becoming increasingly more ragged. Lightning's heart twisted. She wished there was something she could do. . . but they were in the middle of nowhere.

The silence didn't last. After a minute, maybe two, Hope broke it.

"Can't. . . breathe. . ."

He struggled hard. He felt as if something was pressing hard on his chest. . . again.

Lightning felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. No. . . she couldn't lose him now, now when she'd finally found him again. She wrapped one of her hands around one of his. "Please Hope. . ." the first tears spilled onto her cheeks, "Don't leave me. I can't lose you again."

He gave her hand a feeble squeeze, "Don't. . . worry. . ." he choked out, ". . . won't. . ." he locked eyes with her one final time, before going limp.

* * *

**Talk about a cliffhanger! Please review! Tell me what you think!**


	3. I Won't

**Author's Note:** Did I leave ya hanging? I hope I did. Anyhow, this chapter contains a flashback with direct quotation from the game FF-13. I DO NOT OWN IT! The entire flashback, including later ones, belongs to Square Enix! I am just using it to enhance the story!

OK, now that we've cleared that up, hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

He wasn't breathing.

A sob crawled up from her core and escaped her lips. The hand that wasn't holding his was flung to her mouth.

She sat like that until the first tendrils of sunlight leaked into the sky. Not that she noticed, but that's when her brain began to function again.

She couldn't believe it. She'd finally founf him, or rather, he'd found her, and he was taken from her. From Serah. From Snow. From Sazh. Who didn't even know he was still alive. Or, had been alive.

She placed her hand over where his heart should have. . . was. . . beating.

His heart was beating.

But he wasn't breathing.

So was he alive?

But he couldn't be, he hadn't taken a single breath for hours. . .

* * *

_It had been hours. The sun had long since set. Most of them stood or sat around the fire. But Vanille was at Hope's side, watching his chest rise and fall, watching his face for any sigh that he was waking up._

_She stood, discouraged._

_"So this is how it ends!" Snow shouted, throwing out his hands in frustration._

_"Just wait." Sazh said, "Now how long has it been since we left Cocoon? Hm? Not a single soul for miles around. Not a single clue about this whole l'Cie mess!"_

_Snow took an incredulous step forward._

_"What I'm saying is," Sazh continued, "we did well just getting this far."_

_There was a moment of silence as they all digested this._

_Vanille began to step forward, "But. . . we could go a little further."_

_"Meaning?" Sazh said._

_"There's still one place. . ."_

_"Vanille!" Fang interrupted, "Are you sure?"_

_Vanille nodded, "I'm sure."_

_Lightning spoke next, "You know, if we don't find anything this time, we won't get another chance."_

_Another moment of silence._

_"Oerba." came Hope's voice from behind them, "The place it all began."_

_They all turned towards him, and Vanille rushed to his side._

_"Hope." Snow said._

_"The place where the Pulse fal'Cie lay dreaming." Hope raised his left arm into the air, "Vanille and Fang's home." he stared at his brand, "Just maybe. . . it will be the place where we find the answers we're looking for."_

_"Yeah right, if we can get there." Fang said, placing a hand on her hip._

_"Go ahead without me." Hope sat up, and Vanille grabbed his arm, "We can't just leave you!" she cried._

_"I'll be fine." he said to her. He began to stand, "You've all taught me so much- showed me how to fight."_

_He tried to step forward, but ended up stumbling. Vanille gasped, and Snow caught him. He brought Hope's head to his chest, "What did I tell you? Leave the fighting to me."_

_"I'm scared." Hope said._

_Lightning stepped forward and placed a hand on Hope's shoulder, "We understand. You're not gonna go through this ordeal alone, you know." She lightly bumped his head up with her finger and smiled._

_"But that's what scares me!" Hope cried, "I don't. . . I don't want to see you get hurt because of me!" he doubled over, and covered his face with his hand, "It would be better for everyine if I just stayed behind!"_

* * *

Lightning shook herself out of the memory, "Did you really think we'd do that?" she mumbled, "Did you really think we'd leave you?"

* * *

_"Did you really think we'd leave you?"_

Those words entered and echoed through Hope's conciousness.

_"No."_ his thought echoed through his conciousness, just as Lightning's words had, "_I don't know what I was thinking. I just felt so useless."_

_"Don't leave me Hope!" _her voice was harder for him to hear this time, and she sounded scared. He tried to tell her that he wouldn't, but he couldn't form the thought. He left every part of himself slipping away. His name, his memories, his life.

With what was left of himself he wondered, is this what it's like to die?

_"Don't go, Hope!" _This voice was different, it wasn't Lightning.

_"Please, you can't die!" _But that one was.

He assembled his remaining conciousness and held on to the voices, the ones that needed him.

_"I won't."_ he thought weakly.

_"I won't."_

_"I won't!"_

* * *

**This chapter was fun to write, so I hope you liked it! I'm doing absolutely nothing today, so I'll probably post the next chapter later. Please review!**


	4. Relief and Anger

**Author's Note:** 4 chapters in 2 days. Yeah, what a life I have. haha. Acutally, I have been writing this story for almost two years, so I have tons written. Therefore, I feel the need to post LOTS! I'm sorry if the story seems to be moving too fast, I feel like it is anyway, but once it gets farther on that will get better.

This chapter has another flashback, again don't own anything. There is a part that is a little boring, because I have Hope explain something to Lightning, so you can skip over that part if you want.

Anyhoo, here we go!

* * *

"I won't!" Hope coughed out.

Every single one of Lightning's senses was instantly flooded with relief. He was alive.

"Hope!" she cried, squeezing the hand she was still holding.

"Hey, Light." he gave her hand a feeble squeeze, then noticed her tear-stained cheeks, "What happened?"

"I-I thought you were. . . I thought. . ." she gasped and used her free hand to clamp her mouth shut.

"Hey." he mumbled. He tried to sit up but she pushed him back down.

"No. It's your turn to rest."

"Light, I'm fine."

"You almost _died_." she reminded him, "Rest."

"Yes, ma'am." he replied with a mock salute.

She gave a small chuckle, "Don't ever scare me like that again."

A branch snapped in the distance and they both froze, although it turned out to be nothing.

"Seems like you've developed an almost Snow-like attraction for trouble." Lightning said once they relaxed.

"Yeah, well. . ."

"And a Snow-like refusal to die." The last word echoed through both their hearts, and Lightning's tightned, "What was that?"

"You mean, why didn't I die?"

Her silence was his answer.

"Because I can't. _We_ can't." Hope chuckled a little, "How do you think we're still alive?" Lightning gave him a look of slight confusion, "You can't tell me you haven't figured it out yet?" he said.

"I knew we couldn't age, but. . . we can't _die?_"

He hesitated before answering, "Nope. Doomed to an eternal life. Don't you remember the legend, Light?"

"I guess I never thought. . . But. . . you weren't breathing. . . for hours. . ." His explination just raised more questions for her. Questions that apparently only he could answer.

"One of my ribs must've punctured my lungs, my body would've shut down my lungs to heal them." He said this in a matter-of-fact way that thouroughly irritated Lightning.

"How can you talk about this like it's okay!" she said.

"Because it is."

"Your heart almost stopped." her voice shook.

"That would be because my body was more focused on turning my lungs back on than my heart beating."

"How do you know all this?" she practically spat at him.

"Experience."

Her anger abated, "You mean. . .?"

"I've been through this before."

Lightning recalled the last thing he'd said to her before he'd passed out, '_Don't. . . worry. . . won't. . .'_

"So that's what you meant." she mumbled.

Hope hadn't heard her, "Listen, Light. I'm sorry. I can't promise not to scare you again," he sat up, and placed his hands on her shoulders, "but I can promise that I'll never leave you."

She stared into his ocean-colored eyes, "But you already did."

He turned away from her, ashamed, "And I'll regret that for the rest of my life."

"Why didn't you just come back?" she asked softly.

"Because I couldn't find what I was looking for."

"What were you looking for?"

To this, he gave no answer.

* * *

_Lightning returned to find Hope fast asleep. She would rather they kept moving, but it had been a long day. And she had made up her mind not ot leave him._

_So she sat across from him. Soon after she did so, he stirred._

_"Mom?" he breathed._

_"Tsk." she watched him sleep, "Not by a long shot."_

* * *

**And, scene! haha. I hope you like the story so far. Some very. . . interesting things are going to happen in the next chapter. *evil laugh* Just kidding. But it will be interesting. Will Trip return? Will some old friends make an appearance? Will Snow finally stop being an idiot? OK, that last one was just an opinion. Please review!**


	5. Screams in the Night

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Yunalesca10 for her enthusiastic reviews. Does she really know what will happen next? We'll see. It's nice to hear from her, but I'd like to hear the rest of your opinions too! Your opinions matter to me and will help make the story better! Anyway. . .

When we last left our heroes. . .

* * *

The sun had set, and a fresh fire was burning. Hope had fallen asleep but Lightning was restless. She kept thinking about Trip, about where he had gone. Her eyes felt drawn to the blood splatter on Hope's shirt. He had to be out there somewhere.

Her gaze slid to Hope again. He was so. . . _different_ now. All grown up. He didn't need her anymore. He could take care of himself. Though, asleep, she could still see the boy she once knew. Did everyone look younger when they slept?

She knew it was selfish; but sometimes, before Hope left, and especially after, she wished she could have him back. Back to the way she remembered him. So she could keep him safe.

"Stupid." she muttered aloud.

Hope stiffened, and for a moment Lightning thought she'd woken him up. But he didn't move again, though he did begin to speak.

"No. Please, no. . ."

His voice was desperate, pleading. His hands clenched into fists.

Instinch and common sense told Lightning that he was dreaming. Even so, a tense knot began to form in her stomach. Something was wrong.

"Not again. . ."

He sounded so sad. . .

"No. . . no. . ."

His body relaxed, the knot in Lightning's stomach tightened. . .

_**"NO!"**_

It was a horrible, bloodcurdling scream. Lightning's tension was released, and repleaced by fear. Hope was moving like he was restrained. He looked like he was trying to force himself forward.

"Stop! Please!"

Tears were streaming down his face. Lightning felt as if everything else in the whole world except Hope had dissappeared. Her instinct to protect him fought its way to the front lines, but was defeated. She couldn't protect him from a dream.

His tortuous dream seemed to last for hours, and maybe it did. Every one of his screams reverberated throught her body.

Several times it crossed her mind to wake him up. But she couldn't. Though she wouldn't admit it, even to herself, she was afraid of what might happen. So she just sat there, watching.

"No!"

'P_lease wake up soon. . .'_

"_Vanille!"_ Hope screamed. He struggled harder against his restraints, whatever they were. Even though he was asleep, the look of desperation on his face was plain.

And he broke free.

He broke free, "I'm sorry!." he cried, "I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry."

The rest of the world returned, and with blinding brightness. Holding her arm up to her eyes, Lightning looked around for the source. It appeared to be. . . coming from. . . Cocoon. Which she couldn't see, but the direction seemed right.

As the white light faded, two orbs of light floated across the sky, and they were slowly desending in her direction.

"I am so sorry." Hope whispered, "I love you."

The orbs came closer and closer, and Lightning realized that they were coming straight for her. their light was pure, and intense. She backed away, and even though she was covering her eyes, the light shone through. Her back hit the cool rock of the cave, and still, the light was all that she could see. It's intensity peaked, then dropped. As it faded, Lightning uncovered her eyes. And as they adjusted, she saw two things she never thought she'd see again.

"Fang? Vanille?"

* * *

**And the thick plottens. What will happen next. . . . . . . . . . . . .?**


	6. Miracle

**Author's Note:** OK, so apparently there's been a little confusion. So I will clarify, this is a **Hope & Vanille **story. The confusion on that topic is entirely my fault. Until someone pointed it out to me I didn't really notice how much it looked like Lightning might be in love with Hope, or vice versa. Thanks to the person who pointed that out! The next few chapters should make the true pairing more obvious.

* * *

It really was them. There was no mistaking that tatoo, or those curly red pigtails. The two women who sacrificed everything for Cocoon. Who had been in a crystal slumber for six centuries, were back.

As they stirred and rose, Lightning slowly stood and took a few steps forward.

"Fang?" she said in disbelief, "Vanille?"

The two turned to face her, and the younger of the two gave a cry of joy.

"Lightning!"

She flung herself forward, and trapped Lightning in a hug.

"Let the girl breathe, Vanille." Fang chuckled.

Vanille backed off, "Sorry!" she chirped.

Lightning chuckled too, "It's alright." she looked from one girl to the other, "You're back."

"Seems that way." said Fang, hands on her hips.

"But, _where_ are we?" Vanille asked, looking up at the trees.

"I. . ." Lightning had no answer.

"How do you not _know_?" Fang asked.

"I don't remember."

"Damn." Fang said, "How long has it been? You used to be the go-to girl for directions."

"Six hundred years." Lightning told her.

This answer was met with stunned silence. "So the legend has more truth ti it than we thought." Fang said.

Lightning shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Hope whispered, sounding spirit-broken.

The two Pulsian girls whipped around, startled. (In all honesty, Lightning had almost forgotten about Hope) Vanille cocked her head, "Who-?" It seemed to dawn on both her and Fang at the same time, and the young redhead's eyes widened, "Hope?" She knelt beside him, an all-too-familiar sight, while Fang looked to Lightning for an explination.

Lightning opened her mouth to say something, thought what she didn't know, when Hope spoke again.

"I-is that really you?"

He'd woken up. He was propped up on one elbow, and was staring at Vanille in disbelief.

"Yup!" she said.

"We could ask you the same question." Fang said, "You sure have changed."

"Yeah, well. . ." he said as he stood, Vanille did the same.

"So." Fang looked at the group, "What are you guys doing out here?"

Hope and Lightning exchanged glances.

"You can't tell me you don't know." Fang said.

"It's. . ." Hope started.

"Complicated?" Vanille finished.

He gave her a shy smile, "Yeah."

He proceeded to tell them how he found Lightning.

"And. . . what about you?" Vanille asked.

He sighed, and offered no answer.

Both Vanille and Fang looked to Lightning.

"I haven't seen Hope in six hundred years." she told them.

"Really?" Fang raised her eyebrows.

Vanille held her hands behind her back and stepped in front of Hope, staring up into his ocean-colored eyes, "Why's that?"

For Hope, everything in teh world but Vanille dissappeared. All he could see was her, alive. Not dead or dying as she was in his dreams.

* * *

_Blood poured down her body from the dark hole in her chest. He struggled to move, to get to her. To do anything._

_The spell was finally broken, finally, after countless deaths, when she began to fall. Finally given the freedom of movement, he sprang forward with the swiftness of a cat, and caught her. He lowered her to the ground. Shaking and covered in her blood, he whispered, "I'm sorry."_

_She took a shattered breath, and raised her hand to his face. As he leaned into it, a single tear ran down his cheek._

_"I am so sorry." he whispered. He held her hand to his face, "I love you."_

_And as she took her last breath. As her eyes glazed over, she used the last of her life, "I know." _

* * *

**Now if that dream didn't clear things up, I don't know what will. Again, a serious thank you to the person who pointed out that little, but extremely important, detail. This is exactly why I need your reviews. You see things that I as the writer don't. Things that I probably wouldn't pick up. So. . . . . . . . . . . please review!**


	7. Explosion

**Author's Note:** Well, if you like friction, this is the chapter for you! *evil laugh* But seriously. . .

* * *

"Hey!"

Hope blinked himself back to her.

"You okay?" Vanille asked.

"Yeah. . . I just, can't believe it's you. You're back."

"What am I then? Behemoth meat?" Fang joked.

Hope laughed, "It's good to see you too, Fang."

"It's been too long." Lightning agreed.

"But it's a little wierd, isn't it?" Fang said, "You two reuniting, and then us showing up. All in the same place?" she folded her arms, "Bit more than a coincidence if you ask me."

"You shouldn't be so negative." Vanille scolded, "We're here, we're alive, isn't that what matters?"

"Tsk. I guess."

* * *

The group didn't end up going anywhere that day. They spent it catching up. Spent it listening to Lightning tell them about what had happened in their absences. She told Fang and Vanille about Snow and Serah's wedding, told them how she'd stayed in the army since it was all she knew. And she told them all, about the aftermath of Hope's departure.

"Snow was angry all the time. Started this bad habit with Gadot, they went out and got drunk every weekend. That is. . . until Gadot died." her voice grew steadily more solemn, though her expression remained neutral, "Sazh tried to stay positive. For Dajh. But once Dajh matured, it was easy to tell that his smile was just a mask. And Serah-" she gave Hope a serious look, "She felt like she owed you something. Because you lost everything from your old life, and she got a second chance at hers. She told me, how every time she looked at you, all she could see was pain. That's why she tried so hard to be friends with you. Remember?"

Hope nodded, "Yeah, I remember."

"She cried a lot after you left. When she thought we weren't looking. Snow told me that sometimes, she'd dream that you'd come home, only to wake up and realize that you were still gone. She felt like it was partially her fault that you left."

"I-" Hope started. But he couldn't finish. _Did I really hurt them that much?_

"What about you?" Vanille asked Lightning.

"Me?" she clenched a fist. "I was. . . angry. Hurt. I couldn't believe you'd left us!" she suddenly spat at Hope, who flinched at her sudden anger, "After all we'd been through!"

"Hey now, that's enough." Fang said sternly.

"NO!" Lightning shouted. She stood furiously, fire in her eyes. Her blood boiled with mixed contempt and love* for the silver-haired man sitting before her. All the anger and pain she'd kept bottled up for so long came spewing out of her like red-hot lava from a volcano, "Snow and I spent weeks searching for you! Months! Years! And every day we came home without you was another day that Serah cried, another day that Sazh had to hide behind a smile!" she stopped shouting, but the anger in her voice did not drop one bit, "Eventually, we- I, gave you up for dead."

"Light, I-"

"And when I finally found you I-" her anger cracked, and sadness seeped through, though she fought it, "And when you nearly died, I-" she lost her resolve, and she felt hot tears begin to form in her eyes. She turned away from the others, refusing to let it show. Hope stood, but she spoke again before he could do anything.

"We're a family, Hope. But you broke it."

Shame entered Hope's heart like a deadly poision, "And I told you, I'll regret that forever."

Lightning turned back to him, angry again, "You don't get it! It was bad enough losing Fang and Vanille, but when you left. . ." her heart twisted. "We're not half of what we once were."

"Don't you think I felt that?" Hope said softly, "That's why I left, for them. I wanted- I wanted to find a way to bring them back. So we could be together again."

"Did you?" Vanille asked, "Was it you that brought us back?"

Hope shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think so. But something happened. Whatever it was, we're together again."

"Listen, Lightning," Fang said, "The kid here might've done some dumb stuff." she stood, Vanille along with her, "But he has a point. We're all here. Now all we gotta do is go home and we'll be a big happy family again."

Hope cringed a little at the suggestion, no one but Vanille noticed. She eyed him curiously.

"Yeah." Lightning said, "Home."

* * *

***Ok, again, just to clarify, Lightning loves Hope like a brother, nothing more.**

**If I was Lightning, I would have yelled at Hope a long time ago. But with him nearly dying and all, I feel like this was a good time to let her explode. Hope you liked this chapter, please review!**


	8. Shooting Daggers

**Authot's Note:** Hope you liked the last chapter, and I hope you like this one too! This chapter contains lots of fluff! Yup, corny, slightly romantic fluff. Hehehe.

Here we go.

* * *

Once night began to fall yet again, Hope offered to take watch. He couldn't risk having another nightmare, couldn't risk _her_ knowing the dreams that played through his mind, night after night.

_Vanille._

She didn't sleep either. Fang and Lightning did, after a while, but not Vanille. She and Hope just sat around the fire. He staring into it, ears perked, listening for any sign of anything, she staring at him, thinking.

"What's with the blood on your shirt?" she asked suddenly.

Hope's head jerked up, she'd startled him. He'd been trying to, well, not _ignore _her. But it was hard to keep watch when the love of your life was a mere two feet away and she didn't even know how you felt.

"Oh, don't worry, it isn't mine." he said, hoping she couldn't hear his heart pounding too.

"All right." she said, dragging the 'a' sound, "Well, whose is it then?"

"Just some guy."

"The same guy who almost got you killed?"

"Yeha." he said, "Wait, how-?"

"Something Lightning said."

_And when you nearly died, I-_

"Oh, right."

He stared back, not _at_ exactly, but _past_ the fire, watching the flames flicker against a little patch of sand.

_Wait, sand?_

"Care to tell me about it?" Vanille said, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Sure." Hope said distractedly. He stood, "Maybe later. . ." He began to walk in what he thought was the right direction.

"Wait!" Vanille cried, she caught up to him, "Where are you going?"

"Maybe nowhere." he turned to look at her, "You know, you don't have to come with me. This could be just a waste of time."

"If _you're _sneaking off,"she said, pointing an accusing finger at him, "then _I'm_ going with you."

"I'm not _sneaking_." he said, "But fine, if you insist."

In reality, he was thrilled that Vanille was coming with, even if their little trip led to nowhere. Just being able to be with her again. . .

"So." Vanille said brightly, "Where _are_ we going?"

"A place I've been to before. That is, if I don't get us lost. And if I'm not wrong."

They walked for about twenty minutes. Vanille humming slightly, and Hope trying to keep his head out of the clouds long enough to keep from running into a tree. Then he heard something. He stopped so suddenly that Vanille bumped into him.

"Hey!" she said indignantly, but Hope shushed her. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

She tried to hear what he heard. But she wasn't sure what he was getting at. She heard the rustling of the leaves, she heard the chirping of the night insects, she heard the far-off cry of a dying animal, and she heard the two of them breathing.

"No." she replied.

Hope just nodded and kept on walking, nonplussed. Vanille gave a slightly exasperated sigh, but followed. She was curious as to what he had heard, and where they were going.

After five more minutes, she heard it. The powerful sound of rushing water, the sound of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water being shoved over rocks by gravity.

Her eyes widened as her curiousity mounted.

Another two minutes brought them to their destination.

A small lake supplied by four graceful waterfalls, two in a series, two stood alone. A beach of lovely white sand outlined the lake. The stars reflected in the smooth, glassy surface, along with the slight mist from the waterfalls, created a beautiful effect, and a calming atmosphere.

"Wow!" Vanille gasped.

"Yeah." Hope agreed.

The strange majesty of the place affected them both. They sat together on the edge of the beach, and just stared.

"Something about this place. . ." Hope started.

Vanille gave him a curious look, and waited for him to finish. "What?" she asked when he didn't.

"It's like. . . an oasis. This small patch of heaven set apart from the problems and worries of humanity. And look," ha said, pointing to the sky, "you can see Cocoon from here."

Vanille looked up at the glowing crystal planet in the sky. She remembered being up there, being in crystal stasis. It was lonely, really. Having only her thoughts to keep her company, Fang's too. Then there were those dreams. . . She wondered if she'd still have them, now that she'd woken up. Maybe. . .

"I used to. . . never mind." Hope said.

Vanille snapped out of her thoughts to look at him, "What?"

"Nothing." he turned away from her, but she saw is reddened cheeks before he did. He was _embarrassed._

"Come on, Hope." she encouraged, "Tell me."

It made his heart soar to hear her say his name. It was all he could do to not confess his feelings right there and then. He almost did, too. But he choked on the words. So he told her what she wanted to know instead.

"When I was here before. . . I looked up at Cocoon, and I thought. . ." he stared at the lake, "I thought, 'If only Vanille could see this.'"

Vanille felt her own cheeks flush at his words, she stammered, "R-really?"

"Yeah. But then, I'd tell myself, 'Knock it off, she's not coming back.'" He turned to look at her, "I've never been so happy to be wrong."

He burned with embarassment again when he realized what he'd said; he looked away. He hadn't meant to let that second part slip out.

For the second time in her life, Vanille found herself struck dumb by his words. Mixed feelings bubbled up inside of her, feelings she'd been fighting with ever since she'd returned. Before, he was too young fo rher, but now. . .

"Having fun?" came Fang's teasing voice from behind them.

Hope and Vanille practically jumped a foot in the air as Fang and Lightning appeared.

"I. . . uh-" Hope started.

"You're not very good at sneaking off." Fang said to Vanille.

"We weren't sneaking!" Vanille cried, getting up quickly.

"Of course not, we were following you." Fang smirked.

Hope groaned inwardly, "Did you listen to us, too?"

Fang flashed him a look that answered his question. She had heard, and she didn't like it, "Hell yeah, and I gotta say, you haven't lost your knack for saying corny stuff." her voice was light and joking, the exact opposite of her gaze.

There was a few moments of awkward silence before Lightning interjected, "So, Hope, you said you've been here before?"

"Uh, yeah." he said. He then stood and pointed at one of the single waterfalls, "There's a cave behind that waterfall. It leads to a small village. I stayed there about twenty-five years ago, and they showed me this place." His smile told of fond memories.

"Village?" Lightning said.

"A village means people." Said Fang thoughtfully.

Vanille moved to Hope's side, and gave him a meaningful look, People who can help us get home."

She knew. Somehow, Vanille knew about Hope's reluctance to go home. He could see her carefully judging his reaction. She knew. He just hoped she didn't know how violently her closeness was affecting him. She was so close, he could feel the warmth of her body. Her familliar Oerban scent filled his nore, overpowering him with pleasant memories and bodily urges. He wished that Fang and Lightning would just leave. . .

"Er." he said, trying to focus, "That cave collapsed shortly before I left." he cringed inwardly at the outright lie, but he couldn't yet face the thought of going home, We could go around, but that would take days."

"Alright then, Mr. Compass." Fang said, "What do you suggest we do?" Lightning gave him a look that he couldn't decipher.

"Well, this is their main water source. They send a patrol every week to get some. We-we could stay here until they come. I mean, worst casr scenario they came yesterday and we're here for a week."

Vanille closed the few inches between them by leaning against Hope's arm, making his heart flutter, and causing Fang to shoot daggers. "That sounds like a great idea!" Vanille chirped, "After all, there are worse places we could be."

"I guess that's the plan then." Lightning said.

* * *

**Wow, that was a long chapter. Did you enjoy the fluff? Tell me your thoughts, I want to know, positive or not.**

**Don't know how long until the next chapter will be up. I have a major case of writer's block. Grrrr! (I blame Fang) But seriously.**

**Please review! Pretty please?**


	9. This Isn't Over

**Author's Note:** Hey, peeps! Happy New Year! So far this year has brought me, A CURE FOR MY WRITER'S BLOCK! Oh yeah. Yes, helpful friends are a very good cure.

Anyhoo, this chapter contains... HA! I'm not gonna tell. Read and figure it out. :)

* * *

"Something's not right." Fang said, watching Hope, who was teaching Vanille how to fish with her bare hands.

"How so?" Lightning asked, following her gaze.

"Hope is acting wierd. Wierder than usual, I mean."

Thinking that Fang was talking about the conversation they'd overheard the night before, Lightning said, "What's so wierd about that?"

"I mean, did you see how he hesitated when we were talking about that village?" In the distance, Vanille squealed with delight as Hope caught a fish. Fang narrowed her eyes, "He was lying about something."

But Lightning wasn't so sure. Fang apparently hadn't noticed Hope's face when Vanille stood by him. The slight unfocused, dazed look in his eyes.

Then again, Fang didn't know what she knew.

* * *

Vanille felt bad for the fish that was flopping on the rock beside her, fighting for it's life. But then again, she hadn't eaten in six centuries.

She connected her hands in an Oerban gesture for prayer, and said a quick one for the poor fish as Hope put it out of it's misery with his knife.

"Okay, your turn." he said, wiping off the knife.

"Wait, what?" Vanille said, turning to him, "No, I couldn't. . ."

"Aw, c'mon, Vanille. I can't teach you anything if you don't try." He gave her an easy smile.

A smile that brought just a tinge of color to her cheeks, and butterflies to her stomach, "O-okay."

* * *

Vanille cried with delight again as she finally caught a fish.

Lightning smiled, but Fang glared as Hope gave Vanille a congratulatory hug.

"What?" Lightning said when she saw Fang's expression.

"Nothing." Fang mumbled.

Lightning sighed. If this was Fang's reaction to Hope being a liar, if he was one, what would she do when she learned the truth? That Hope was in love with Vanille. She suspected something, that in itself was obvious. But how close or far she was from the target, was impossible to say.

"Fang-"

Just then, splashes came from the lake. Hope and Vanille were returning with the fish.

Or rather, Vanille was chasing Hope, who had the fish.

"Get back here!" she shouted, laughing.

"In your dreams!" Hope shouted back.

They childishly chased each other for a while, which Lightning found hilarious. Even Fang smiled a little. Finally, Hope surrendered, doubled over laughing, "Okay!" he said, "Okay, you win! Now let's go cook these fish."

He ended up doing that by himself, because Vanille found the process disgusting. Lightning simply chose not to help, and Fang joined her.

Though, she did stand by and watch. Lightning discreetly kept an eye on her. She, quite honestly, didn't trust her. She didn't like not trusting Fang, but the woman had once been willing to kill Vanille. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do.

"Hope?" Fang said casually.

"Hm."

"Did that cave really collapse?"

"Uh, yeah." he stopped gutting the fish and looked up at her, "It was wierd. Felt like an earthquake. Everyone thought it was too, until someone tried to go through the cave." he started back on the fish, "No one's been back there since."

"How do you know? You said you haven't been there in twenty-five years."

"They closed the entrance."

Fang knew. Fang knew that he was lying. She knew. And he just kept lying. The lies flew off of his tongue, no hesitation. And the thing was, she didn't even know why it bothered her. Everything about him just. . . rubbed her the wrong way. Especially when he was with Vanille. . .

"I don't think so." she said.

"Huh?"

"I don't think that cave collapsed. I don't think that the entrance is closed."

Hope stood, "If you're accusing me of something. . ."

"Just lying." Fang put her hands on her hips, "Which you wouldn't do if you _really_ wanted to go home."

Hope's jaw clenched, "You don't know what you're talking about."

She whistled, "Touched a nerve, did I?"

"Fang." Lightning warned.

The warning was ignored, "But I guess if you really wanted to be home, you wouldn't have left in the first place."

"I _left._" Hope said angrily, "To find a way to get _you_ and Vanille home."

"Yeah, ya said that already."

"Fang." It was Vanille giving the warning this time.

Hope curled his hands into fists. It took all he had not to take a swing at Fang. _She didn't understand!_

She raised her eyebrows, "What? You gonna hit me?"

Vanille moved to Hope and grabbed his arm, "Don't. . ."

Her touch calmed him. And Fang could see that. It filled her with inexplicable rage. If looks could kill. . .

Lightning pulled Vanille back, "This needs to happen."

Fang started it. She swung, but he blocked it, which just made her more mad. So she did it again, and again, and again. But each time, Hope blocked her punch. Enraged, she shoved him backwards into the lake. Sopping wet, and not defeated, Hope stood, arms open wide. If Fang wanted to hit him, so be it.

Fang growled. She raised her arm to hit him, when suddenly. . .

"NO!"

Vanille jumped in front of Hope, "Fang, this isn't right!"

"Outta my way, Vanille!"

"No!" Vanille looked Fang in the eye, "Fang, this isn't right, we shouldn't be fighting!"

"Vanille, we're not l'Cie anymore. Get out of my way!"

She refused to move, "I won't let you hurt him for no reason."

"Vanille." Lightning said. But the red-headed Oerban didn't budge.

The silence that followed was tense. Both Pulsians stared each other down, daring the other to give in. The other two exchanged glances.

Eventually, Fang gave in to her 'sister's' emerald stare. She relaxed her stance, "Fine." she said. But she gave Hope a look that said, this-isn't-over.

* * *

**Aaaaaannnnddddd, scene. Wow, Fang really brings out the ugly in people. Guess that's what she gets for being so protective. Sorry for the lame fight, that's what I get for writing this at two thirty in the morning. And don't worry, there will be PLENTY more Hope/Fang conflict later on. *evil laugh* Yeah. . . **

**I will give you a few hints about the next chapter: Hope, Vanille, lake, and the most important... kiss!**

**Please review!**


	10. Now Or Never

**Author's Note:** Okay, this is definitely _my_ favorite chapter, let's see what you guys think. For all of you Hope\Vanille fans out there, this is the chapter for you. It was so much fun to write! A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this. Mine and theirs. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Hours have passed. . .

* * *

Even though the moon had risen, and billions of stars sparkled across the sky, the air they all sat in was still laced with tension. The calm before the storm; that almost _too_ peaceful silence that has a very flimsy barrier at it's end. A barrier that, upon breaking, releases a mighty hurricane.

Fang had long since left the others. She sat by herself on a large boulder. Doing nothing in particular, not really even thinking, she was just there.

Lightning stood at the edge of the lake, studying the reflection of the stars in the slightly rippling surface.

Vanille sat by the fire, picking up handfuls of sand and watching them slip through her fingers.

Hope sat by the fire as well, staring into it, doing much more thinking than Fang. She'd caught on to his lie. Had the others as well? Lightning hadn't interfered, beyond pulling Vanille back, she could know. She might just be keeping silent. Vanille had defended him, so she probably didn't know. . .

_Vanille had defended him._ He still couldn't believe that. she refused to let Fang hit him. But why? It wouldn't have been a big deal, Fang wouldn't have been able to hurt him much. And even if she had, he would have healed fairly quickly. Yet she stood her ground. Had probably been willing to take the punch for him.

Hope had done that for Vanille once, stood between her and an angry Fang. He and Lightning had guarded Vanille while snow and Sazh held Fang back. But that was a long time ago, back before Vanille and Fang's sacrifice.

Hope unconciously looked up at Vanille, then Lightning. Coincidentally, Lightning chose that moment to glance at him, too. After about a second, she looked to Vanille, then back at him. He understood.

Now or never.

While Lightning turned back at the lake like nothing had happened, Hope stood, and pulled off his shirt and shoes. He tossed them aside and stepped into the lake, the deceptively warm water lapping at his ankles. He took a deep breath and summoned all his courage, then turned and called out, "Hey, Vanille!"

She looked up, and jumped, startled to find him shirtless.

"I want to show you something."

"Un-underwater?" she stammered.

He nodded.

"Oh. I-I can't swim very well. . ."

"That's alright, I'll be there too. And besides, you don't even need to breathe, just hold it in." he extended his hand to her.

She hesitated for a moment, then took off her boots and came forward, taking his hand. He offered her a smile, which she nervously returned, then headed into the lake.

Once underwater, Vanille tightened her grip on Hope's hand. She'd almost drowned once as a child, and had no desire to repeat that. But Hope was right, she didn't need to breathe. She felt only slight discomfort holding her breath, which was entirely forgotten once she saw the underwater lake life.

The water was so pure here, that she could see almost all the way to the bottom, even though it was night. The moonlight cast a surreal light on the underwater life. Vanille felt as if she were in another world enitrely. The slightly swaying foliage looked almost silver. And the fish. . . There were so many colors; from yellow to dark blue, they swam in and out of her vision. There was even a rather large turtle, whish Hope pointed out to her, swimming along the bottom of the lake, lazily making it's way. It was amazing.

Vanille was watching a sky-blue fish weave it's way in and out of some grass, when a crimson one swam directly in fromt of her.

_Crimson. . ._

* * *

_The crimson handprint on Hope's face, it was hers. Her bloodied hand had touched his face, and he had leaned into it, held it with his own. The look in his eyes, she'd never forget it. His strong arm around her and his gentle hand on hers were the last warm things she felt, as her own warmth left her. His sweet voice was the last thing she heard as she faded away. . ._

_"I am so sorry. I love you"_

* * *

Vanille gasped out of the memory, and took in lakewater. She immediately began to panic, choking on it. Fear set in. She'd died before, she didn't want to go like this.

She vaguely felt Hope dragging her to the surface. But she didn't really feel it until they hit cold air. As soon as they did, she began coughing the liquid out of her system. As her coughs turned into sobs, Hope pulled her in, and she sobbed into his bare chest; for feeling his warm body against hers brought the memory back.

"Shh." Hope whispered gently, "It's okay. You're fine."

"I-I was dying." she gasped, "And. . ."

"No. Vanille, you weren't dying, you were just afraid-"

"No." she sobbed, "I _was_ dying. And you. . . you held me, and-and you said," she gasped, "you said. . ."

Hope held her out from him a little, so he could look into her eyes. Her wet, emerald eyes, "I am so sorry. I love you."

Vanille's eyes widened. Her heart swelled. He knew the words, so that meant. . .

"I love you." Hope repeated.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the two leaned in. Until their lips met. There had never been such a kiss on Pulse, one so full of passion, and love. The man had waited over six hundred years to tell her how he felt. And the woman had waited over a thousand, for someone like him. No, not someone _like_ him. Just him.

As neither needed oxygen, they remained locked together. As one. They were indeed, two halves of one whole. Soulmates.

And Lightning could see that.

* * *

**Well, what did you think? I feel that this is my best chapter yet, but that's for you guys to decide. **

**What will happen, now that Hope and Vanille's love has ****_finally_**** been expressed? Lightning saw the kiss, but did Fang? If she did, what will she do? Will she let the couple be? (doubtful) Will her overprotectiveness be her downfall?**

**You'll just have to wait and see. :)**


	11. If Looks Could Kill

**Author's Note:** I know this is rated T so you guys probably expected it, but there is A LOT (ish) of cursing in this chapter... via Fang. Of course. :) Nothing bad, no f-bombs or anything. Just lettin' ya know.

* * *

"Damnit, Lightning. Where'd thay go?" Fang crossed her arms angrily.

Lightning nodded towards the lake.

"He took her down _there_? She can't swim!"

"Doesn't need to."

"_Damn_ him."

Lightning turned to her, "What's your problem?"

"She's _afraid_ of going underwater. Why the _hell_ would he take her down there?"

"She went willingly, Fang."

"Damn him."

Deciding to take action, Lightning bagan to walk away.

"Now where are _you_ going?" Fang said crossly.

Lightning didn't stop, knowing Fang would follow. Which she did. Stopping just behind the treeline, Lightning turned to her friend, "Hit it."

Fang looked around, "Hit what?"

Lightning nodded at a tree.

"Why do you want me to-"

"Hit the tree, Fang."

She rolled her eyes, but obeyed. She punched the tree so hard it shook. A bird ot two flew from its branches.

"Feel any better now that you hit something?" Lightning said, almost directly quoting the woman.

"It didn't change anything." Fang returned.

"What is your deal with Hope?"

Fang simply gave a noise of disgust, and turned around.

"Is it because he's-" Lightning hesitated, knowing her words could release the hurricane. But she said them anyway, "-in love with Vanille?"

Fang remained silent.

"Fang-"

Lightning was interrupted by a piteous noise coming from the direction of the lake. Both women turned to see that Hope and Vanille had surfaced. Vanille was crying.

"If he hurt her. . ." Fang growled.

Lightning shushed her as Hope pulled the young Pulsian into a hug. He ran his hand up and down her back in a comforting manner, _not_ a sexual one, as Lightning sternly reminded Fang. There was _nothing_ sexual about the way he was holding her, (if you forgot that he was shirtless) and nothing wrong with comforting his friend.

Fang scoffed, and then suddenly stiffened, "Oh, he is dead." her voice filled with malice.

Lightning rolled her eyes, but then saw what the dark-haired woman was referring to.

She didn't know what Fang saw in the kiss, but to her it simply looked. . . right. Like this ver moment was preordained by the goddess, Etro, herself.

She thought back to all the times she'd seen the two together. All the things she'd heard. Vanille had been a great comfort to the silver-haired boy, after his mother's death. She'd eften trap him in her embrace, offer words of encouragement. (Which, Lightning realized, Fang had only seen occur once.) Hope, in turn, han lifted her up when she needed him most.

* * *

_"Do you really think it's possible?" Vanille said dejectedly, looking out at the no-longer-colorful remains of her hometown._

_Hope suddenly grabbed her hand, placing it between both of his, "Sure, anything is."_

* * *

And just earlier that day, when they'd chased each other through the shallow part of the lake. She smiled at the memory.

And right now. As Lightning looked upon the couple, she realized that they were indeed, two halves of one whole. Soulmates.

Lightning could see that.

She only wished that Fang could.

If looks could kill, Lightning was sure that Hope would be nothing but a pile of smouldering ash. As Hope and Vanille finally broke apart, Fang lunged, only to be held back by Lightning.

"Damnit, Lightning! Let me go!" she snarled.

"Oh yes, I'm just going to _let_ you kill Hope."

"If you would."

"Well you can't, anyway. Even if I _did_ let you go. Besides, what would killing Hope solve?"

"It would get him away from Vanille." Fang muttered.

As quick as her name, Lightning pinned Fang against a tree.

"What the _hell_!" the captive said incredulously.

"Listen to me, Fang."

"Let me go!"

"_Listen._" Lightning said firmly, "I know you're protective of Vanille, we all are. But Hope would rather kill himself than hurt her. He'd take a bullet for her any day. Now I don't know about back in Oerba, but back on Cocoon, that meant a lot."

"Won't mean a thing if I kill him."

"You're not listening! Fang, the night you two came back, Hope- he dreamt that Vanille died. He fought so hard to save her. . . And you didn't hear him when she- when it ended. He was so. . . broken. I've never seen anyone so broken."

"What's your point."

"My _point_ is," Lightning said, "that if you just give him a chance, he'll prove that he loves her. To you, to her, to all of Pulse if he has to!"

Fang just grunted.

Lightning let her go, "Though Vanille's feelings should be enough for you. She trusted him enough to go underwater with him." she turned, and went back to the beach.

Fang sighed, and slowly walked back to her rock. She had a few things to think about.


	12. Sinking

**Author's Note:** It kills me to say this, but this chapter is really short. Short, but VERY improtant. So pay attention! I said _pay attention_! Don't you dare look away from that screen! I said don't look- Gah, nobody listens to me...

* * *

As Hope and Vanille finally broke apart, the young woman looked up into his ocean-colored eyes. Self-conciously, she asked, "D-do you really love me?"

He chuckled a little, and gently brushed a few strands of loose hair behind her ear, "Of course." he mumbled, "I always have."

She smiled, then playfully shoved him back a bit, "You better not be lying again." she teased.

For a second, Hope was nervous, "What?"

* * *

_"Do something for me will ya? Keep smiling. I-it makes me happy when you smile."_

_"I-I didn't know you felt that way!" Vanille turned away, her cheeks burning._

_Then a most curious sound entered her ears: Hope was laughing._

_She turned to him, "Wait a minute, you mean you were joking?"_

_"Now we're even!" he laughed, then began to run away._

_Vanille growled, and began to chase him._

* * *

"Oh, yeah. Well. . ." he playfully grabbed her by the waist, "I hope you know, I was lying about lying to you."

Vanille just blushed. For the first time, she was acutely aware of his shirtlessness. "Y-you know," she stammered, "you really shouldn't lie to a girl."

"Yet here we are, six hundred years later, with you in my arms." Ha gave a short laugh.

"Just don't make a habit of it."

Hope felt guilt wash over him, "I'll try not to. Come on, let's go back."

* * *

_Hope awoke on the beach, his vision tinged with red. Everything _looked _normal, but something felt off. Looking around, he saw Vanille, Lightning, and Fang sleeping on the ground. As he looked upon them, anxiety siezed him by the gut. He knelt by Vanille, she seemed fine, so why did he feel so-_

_He then saw what he'd been missing._

_She wasn't breathing._

_He looked back at Fang and Lightning. They weren't breathing either. His anxiety worsened. What could have possibly-? No one else knew how to-_

_Deep, booming laughter came from nowhere, yet everywhere at once. Hope reached for the knife that he kept in his shoe, but it wasn't there._

_"Foolish l'Cie. Did you honestly believe keeping your little secret would protect them?"_

_There was a bright flash, but the red-tinted world around him looked no different._

_Until he looked down._

_Blood was pouring from Vanille's left thigh, from Lightning's chest, from Fang's right shoulder. It pooled under his feet and began dragging him underneath the sand._

_"Who are you!" Hope screamed at the mysterious voice. At once, his left wrist began to burn. Clutching it, he screamed again, "Who the hell are you!" He collapsed from the intense pain. As he continued to sink, the voice said nothing._

_Then, when the only free thing was his head, the voice thundered:_

_"Your worst nightmare."_


	13. Healing the Rifts

Vanille woke the next morning to raised voices.

"I just don't want you taking advantage of her!"

"Taking advant-? Fang, do you even _hear_ what you're saying?"

"I know damn well what I'm saying. The problem here, is that _you_ can't keep your hands to yourself!"

Vanille cringed slightly. Oh no, Fang had seen them-

"You're the one who keeps hitting me."

"You know what I mean!"

Someone sighed.

"Back me up, Lightning!"

"Fang. . ."

"Oh, on his side are ya? Well, let's see what Vanille has to say!"

There was a scuffling noise, then an angry grunt from the older Pulsian.

"Leave her out of this." Hope said softly.

Praying they didn't notice she'd woken up, Vanille resisted the urge to open her eyes.

"Course, 'cause _Snow_ here-"

An absolutely _furious_ growl escaped Hope. Then there saw a loud _smack, _and a sharp, booming _crack_ filled the air. Shuffling footsteps.

"Ooh, touchy. You go around breaking rocks, kid, and people will start thinking you have issues."

"Fang." Lightning warned.

The warning came too late, however. Hope's footsteps could already be heard heading towards the woods.

"Fang," Lightning sighed, "I thought we settled this last night."

"No, you argued your side. I didn't say anything."

"Either way, the tables have turned now."

"What?"

"You didn't see it?"

"See what?"

Lightning's next words were completely, utterly, and totally impossible. Void of any rationality. No way on Cocoon, Pulse, or anywhere for that matter, was it possible. But her sad, unwavering tone deemed it true.

_"His brand."_

* * *

"His _what_!?"

"On his left wrist, just where it used to be."

Vanille found it near impossible to pretend to be asleep anymore. In fact, she didn't even try. She sat bolt upright, emerald eyes finding blue, asking, '_Is it true?'_

Lightning gave an almost imperceptable nod.

Vanille's heart broke.

Fang hadn't noticed the youngest girl, "Is it. . . active?"

"No. It's twisted, like yours was."

Relief swept over the two Pulsians. "What does it mean?" Fang wondered.

"It means you better go find him."

Fang nodded, and without a hint of reluctance, ran off. As soon as she was out of earshot, Vanille began to cry. Hope's brand was back. Even if it was frozen, that still meant. . .

Then Lightning did something almost unheard of for her (even after all these years), she hugged Vanille. The red-headed Pulsian melted into the pink-haired soldier's arms, "Oh, Lightning!" she cried.

"I know." Lightning soothed.

"What do we do?"

A sigh, "I don't know."

* * *

Finding Hope turned out to be easier said than done. Sure, he left an easy trail to follow, but the kid was _fast._ Fang ran for a good ten minuted before even _spotting_ him. Then she had to figure out how to catch him.

But she was tired of running, and needed answers, so plans were far from her mind.

"Hey!" she shouted.

But Hope neither stopped, nor slowed down. He didn't even look back.

Fang grunted, '_Maybe Miss Soldier should have chased him instead. He'll never listen to me._'

Deciding to just let Hope run until he was through, Fang slowed down, not stopping, but there was no need to full-out run when she wasn't trying to keep up.

But once she finally _did_ catch up to him, she found him standing still, waiting for her.

"What do you want, Fang?"

"Just wanna talk." she nodded at his wrist, "Where'd you get the tatoo?"

He held it up, "You like it?" he said dryly. Hope dropped his arm in disgust and turned away.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." he mumbled.

Fang went to place a hand on Hope's shoulder, but he shrugged it off, "Don't pity me."

"I'm not capable of that." She put her hands on her hips, "Look, did anything happen last night? You know, besides. . ."

Hope shook his head, "No. Nothing."

"Nothing at all? You can't remember anything wierd that might have happened?"

She walked in front of him to look him in the eye, he looked away, "I-I think I. . . had a dream."

Fang grabbed him by the shoulders, "What kind of dream?" He just shook his head. "Listen, kid-"

"I don't know!" Hope wrenched himself from her grasp, "I just remember. . . blood. . ." he shook his head again, ". . . and. . . Vanille. . ."

Fang stiffened, "Look, about Vanille-"

"I'm not going to stop loving her, Fang." Hope interrupted, "I never have, and I never will. No matter what it looked like, I wasn't taking advantage of her. And the day that I purpously hurt her is the day my mother comes back from the dead." He hung his head for a moment, then looked back up at Fang, "I'm not saying I'll never mess up, but. . . if I had to die to save her life, then that's what I would do."

Fang simply stared at him. Hope waited patiently for her response, feeling a few drops of rain fall on his face. Fang gave him a hard look, but then grinned and playfully punched his shoulder, "I still don't think you're good enough for her, but. . ." she smirked, "You're such a softie, I don't think I'll have to worry."

"A softie!" Hope said in mock defiance, "Did you see me break that boulder back there?"

"Didn't see a thing."

"I'll do it again."

Fang laughed, a mischevious glint in her eyes, "Come on, I'll race you back."

"Oh, you're on."


	14. Lies vs Truth

**Author's Note: **Man, writer's block sucks. Luckily, I had a three day weekend to remedy said situation. And thus, chapter fourteen was born! Yeah...

Anyway, for the first time in the history of this story, roughly halfway through the chapter, the POV switches away from the group. Gasp! I know, I'm such a rebel.

If the story seemed slow to you, worry not, things will pick up, starting... now!

* * *

Vanille found herself mezmerized by the sharp edges of the fragmented boulder in front of her. It amazed her that the arms that had so gently held her the night before, could effortlessly generate enough power to split stone. She found it hard to remember how much Hope had changed. He wasn't a broken kid clinging to her for comfort anymore. He'd gotten stronger. Tougher. She was the one clinging now, seeking the comfort of his strength when she believed she was on the verge of death. The boy she'd fallen in love with, wasn't a boy anymore. Though she supposed he hadn't been a boy since his mother died. Vanille thoughtfully hugged her knees to her chest as it began to rain.

"You okay?" Lightning sat beside the girl.

"He's changed." Vanille said, "So much."

Lightning glanced at the trees, where Hope had run off to, "I know. Hard to believe this is the same scrawny kid who followed me through the Vile Peaks." She placed a hand on Vanille's shoulder, "But there's one thing that hasn't changed."

Vanille looked up at her, "What's that?"

"He loves you."

Vanille felt her cheeks burn a little.

Lightning smiled, but it was soon replaced with a thoughtful frown.

"What?"

"I was just thinking. His brand..."

Vanille's gut twisted with worry, she nervously played with one of her rain-soaked pigtails, "But, you said it was frozen, right? Like Fang's?

"Yes. But that still doesn't explain why it's there. I mean, why him? Why now?" She sighed, "I think there's something at work here."

"Something like... a fal'Cie?"

Lightning shrugged.

"_I'm not losing to you, Estheim!" _came Fang's voice.

_"Oh, yeah?"_ Hope laughed, _"What're you doing behind me then?" _

Vanille and Lightning exchanged curious glances. Seconds later, Hope came bounding out from behind the trees, with Fang close behind. Though he was already soaked, Hope apparently had no problems getting even more wet, because he ran straight into the lake. Fang stopped at the edge of the water, "Fine, you win! I give!"

Hope laughed with victory and slipped under the surface.

Fang shook her head. When she turned to the other girls, they discovered that she was actually... smiling.

"Alright, what happened in there?" Lightning asked, nearly bursting with unnatural curiousity* as to what made the stone-cold hunter smile.

"We talked." Fang said, "In polite, civil tones." She sat herself down in front of the soldier, "And settled our differences."

* * *

_Fang laughed, a mischevious glint in her eyes, "Come on, I'll race you back."_

_"Oh, you're on."_

* * *

"And we decided to make that a little more interesting."

"What? You guys made a bet?"

"Yeah." Fang smirked, "Kid put a lot on the line, making that bet."

"What was it?" Vanille asked.

"Well, if I won, he had to stay away from you-"

"Fang!" Vanille cried.

"And if he won, I wasn't allowed to interfere. And he won, so..."

Wet arms slipped around Vanille's waist from behind. Even with the rain, she could tell that it was lakewater dripping onto her shoulders now, "You're all mine." Hope mumbled.

Vanille turned her head to look up at him, and he suprised her with a kiss. As their lips parted, she whispered, so only he could hear, "You're rubbing it in, aren't you?"

"Yes." Hope whispered back.

She smiled.

* * *

The leader had originally had no intention to go to the lake that week, but since Deran was on the rotation, he decided he probably should. The kid was arrogant, had no common sense, and tended to cause trouble wherever he went.

He reminded the leader a lot of himself.

Not that that was a good thing.

After loading the cart, and hitching Beyna to it, the group of four set off through the cave. Upon exiting, Beyna gave a little, "Kweh!" of discomfort, hating the feeling of rain on her feathers. The leader gave her a pat on the neck, "I know, girl. I know."

They didn't stray far from the cave, as there had been a spike of monster activity lately. And if anything happened, the closer they were to home, the better.

After tying up the chocobo, and giving the others their instructions, the leader walked over to Deran, who was fiddling with Beyna's reins. "Tie her back up." He said to the boy, who grudgingly did so, "You and I are going to patrol."

Deran mumbled his dislike of the plan.

The leader placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's either that, or hauling barrels. Besides, I know you stuffed your pistol in your boot (Deran nervously tapped his foot on the ground), if anything _does_ attack us, you'll be able to get them before they get us. Understood?"

"Fine."

Patrolling around the lake wasn't something most of them did, but the leader felt that it was important. If any monsters decided to nest near the lake, they needed to know. Deran slopped through the muddy sand, grumbling about being on patrol in the rain. The 'being on patrol' part was debatable, as he wasn't actually paying attention to anything around him (except the rain). The leader, however, was taking in as much as he could. The sound of the rain smacking onto the ground, any movement in the trees. He must have been paying _too_ much attention though, because Deran saw them before he did.

"Sir, there's people over there."

The leader looked where Deran was pointing, and sure enough, there were people. "Keep your guard up." he said. Deran responded by pulling his pistol out of his boot. As they approached, the leader could make out four people, as far as he could tell, there were three women, and one man. The man had silver hair. Something clicked in the leader's brain. Could it be?

As they came into earshot... "Come on, Hope. Knock it off." one of the women said.

_Hope..._

"Sir?"

Any anxieties the leader might have had about the people were completely gone, "Come on, Deran." He said. They went closer, and one of the women noticed them. The whole group turned to face them.

Hope's face wore a look of suprise, "Gaan?"

* * *

*** This just means that Lightning is not generally overly curious**

**Okay, so... What did you think? One of my better chapters, in my opinion. I enjoyed writing it in any case.**

**A bunch of new characters coming in in the next few chapters, just to warn you, coming up with names is not my forte.**

**Please review!**


	15. Rain And Waterfalls

**Author's Note:** Ok, so my sister pointed out to me that Gaan's name looks a lot like Vaan's from 12. I did not mean to do that. The name just popped into my head and I wrote it down, I didn't think about it. I'm not going to change his name though, just letting you know that I didn't steal the idea for his name from Vaan, I've never even played 12.

Alright, back to the story.

* * *

Gaan smiled widely, "It is you."

Hope returned the smile. He was genuinely glad to see the man, but the coming of the people of the village meant he'd have to face the music. The girls would know that he lied to them. And he'd have to explain why.

"Damn, it's been a while, you haven't changed a bit." Gaan joked.

Hope gave a slightly forced laugh, "Yeah, guess you'll be going on, what, sixty now?"

Gaan chuckled, "Yeah, don't remind me." he placed a hand on the shoulder of the boy next to him, "This is Deran. Marie's boy."

Hope's smile widened a bit at memories of the girl, "Really? Who'd she end up with?"

"Jano."

Hope nodded, "Saw that coming."

The boy gave Hope a look that was between curiousity and distrust. He played with the pistol in his hand, "How do you know my parents?"

Gaan chuckled, "You can't possibly need him to tell you _that_ do you? You've probably heard his name a million times in your life."

"Well, _someone's_ famous."

Hope rolled his eyes, "Fang..."

The name made something else click in the leader's brain, "Wait, so _you're_ Fang?"

Fang crossed her arms, not liking the fact that this man knew who she was, "Yeah, so?"

Deran, cold, wet, and wanting to go home, was suddenly interested, "Oerba Yun Fang? From the stories?"

Vanille gave him a curious look, "What stories?"

"The ones my mom told me." he looked at Hope, "The ones she said you told her."

"Oh yeah, you used to tell the kids stories, didn't you?" Gaan said thoughtfully, "Stories about the beautiful women holding up Cocoon."

"Stories about the eight l'Cie." Deran added.

"Huh. Who would've thought we'd become fireside legends?" Lightning said.

Suddenly, the rain pounded down on them twice as hard. Deep, rumbling thunder was heard in the distance. Gaan decided it was time to go back. "Do you want to come back with us?!" he had to shout to be heard over the rain.

"Thought you'd never ask!" Hope shouted back.

* * *

The trek back to the cave entrance was... interesting. The wet sand was rediculously slick, whick caused a few spills. Vanille, mostly. She recieved a few teasing remarks, but everyone erally wanted to get out of the rain, so she got more help than teasing. After her second slip, she clung to Hope's arm, and the rest of the trip went without a hitch.

The closer they got to their destination, the harder it became to hear. In fact, it was pretty much impossible. The thundering of the waterfalls plus the pounding of the rain, was a constant roaring in their ears that wouldn't let anything else in.

When they reached the cart, the other two villagers had already loaded it, and had readied the chocobo. Gaan motioned for them to go forward, since they wouldn't be able to hear him. They understood and obeyed the gesture. They tugged the chocobo forward, much to her dismay, and headed towards the waterfall.

Now, neither Lightning or Vanille thought anything of where they were heading, they were too busy trying not to freeze from the water pouring onto their bodies. But Fang caught it almost immediately. The waterfall. They were going to the waterfall. And behind that was... the cave. The cave Hope said had collapsed twenty-some years ago. Her anger took away some of the chill from the rain. She _knew_ it. He lied to them. Lied through his teeth, no hesitation. _But why?_ Right then, staring at the back of his head, Fang realized that she didn't really care why. She knew she could easily take him from behind, make him pay for lying to them. But there were two things wrong with that plan; one, he had his arm around Vanille, who was _not_ dressed properly for this kind of weather. Two, Vanille would probably just stop her again. Or Lightning. Or one of the four villagers.

No, she would wait.

Shw would wait until no one could stop her.


	16. Didn't See That Coming

While going through the cave was drier, it wasn't any warmer. Vanille was _freezing_. The dark, damp, cold cave was almost worse than being in the rain. Thankfully, she was walking pressed up against Hope's body, sharing his body heat.

Unlike the others, Hope really wasn't cold. Or, if he was, he didn't notice. He had mixed feelings about going through the cave, about going back to the village. On one hand, he missed the people there. The time he had lived there was one of the very few bright spots in his life, the kids loved him (though they weren't kids anymore), no one was out to kill him. It was... peaceful. On the other hand...

The chocobo gave a "Kweh" of relief, she saw the end of the cave. Hope felt Vanille sigh against him. Everyone was glad, tired of being wet. Knowing the end was near put a spring in their steps.

The little village hadn't changed much in the twenty-five years since Hope had been there, except that it wasn't as little. Gaan let the two villagers who had collected the water go home, making Deran stay with him. He took control of the cart, steering the chocobo to the building where they kept the water. The ex-l'Cie followed.

Gaan, Deran, and Hope unloaded the barrels of water and set them next to the others. Gaan then unhitched Beyna and let her go, knowing she'd head straight to the pen with the others. Turning to Hope, he said, "Why don't you take Deran home? I'm sure Marie would be glad to see you."

Hope's reply was a smile. The girl, no, _woman_, had been like a little sister to him when he'd been here, she stuck to him like glue. He felt a stab of guilt, knowing how he must have hurt her when he left. History, it seemed, was doomed to repeat itself.

Deran began to walk home, making sure to stay _ahead_ of Hope, who followed. Vanille was curious, so she decided to go too. She caught up to Hope, and slipped her fingers in between his. She gave him a smile, which he returned, and they followed Deran to his home.

Lightning and Fang stayed behind, but watched the trio until they couldn't see them anymore. But before that, Fang waited until they were out of earshot, and said, "I told you he was lying."

She didn't sound angry, but that would have been better. There was no hint of anything in her voice, she was just stating a fact, a fact that Lightning knew made her furious. She didn't sound it, which meant she was planning something. Lightning glanced at Gaan to make sure he wasn't listening, he wasn't, he was busy putting away the cart. So she grabbed Fang by the shoulders, "I know. But he wouldn't lie unless he had a reason, at least find out that reason before you do anything."

Fang wrenched herself from Lightning's grasp, "How can you say that? You realize, that he's been stalling, keeping you, me, Vanille, away from home? Keeping you from Serah? What possible reason could he have?"

There was the anger. Lightning sighed, "I don't know. I don't know him anymore."

"Then how do you know he wouldn't lie? Without a 'reason'."

How did she know? She really didn't, she supposed. It was just this... feeling. "I guess, because he's never lied to me before, up until a few days ago. He's avoided answering, sure, but he hasn't lied."

Fang was going to reply, but then Gaan walked up, "I don't know about you two, but I'd like to dry off. Not a fan of being wet."

They agreed, and he took them to a place where they could dry off.

* * *

Deran led the couple to his home, where his mother was waiting for him. She didn't notice the other two at first, just her son, "Cause any trouble?"

Deran rolled his eyes, "No, mom." He nodded at the other two, "Look who I found." He didn't stay long enough to see her reaction, just went to his room.

Marie stared at Hope for the longest time, her brain refusing to believe it was really him. She hadn't seen him since she was nine, but he hadn't changed at all. She knew he wouldn't, she knew what he was, but... it was strange, seeing that it was true. He was the one who broke the silence, "Hey, Marie."

"You're back."

Hope rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, "Yeah, it's been a while."

It was then that Marie noticed Vanille, something about her seemed familliar. She saw that the two were connected by their hands, and realized why. The red-headed woman had been described to her in stories several times, "Are you Vanille?" she asked.

Vanille nodded.

Marie smiled at Hope, "So, you got her back?"

"Goddess knows how." he shrugged, "But I'm not complaining."

She nodded, "Would you two like to come in?"

They did. At her request, Hope told Marie everything she wanted to know. Mainly, what he had been doing the past quarter of a century. Both women listened intently to everything he said. Both women had questions, which he answered to the best of his ability. Then Marie asked him why he left.

Hope hestiated, "The easy answer is that I was simply ready to move on. Staying in one place too long makes me anxious."

"Well, what's the hard answer?"

He sighed, "That would take about six hundred years to explain, and unlike me, you don't have that kind of time."

Marie played with her hair for a moment, "Okay, so, why did you come back?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jano, Marie's husband, was leaning against the doorframe. Hope nodded at him, "Hey, Jano."

Jano came and sat at the table with the rest of them, "Why _did_ you come back?"

This answer also required a long explination, but Hope told them. He started with finding Lightning. He told them about the fight, Fang and Vanille returning, finding the lake. He told them most of the story, but Vanille noticed that he left out his fights with Fang, and he left out his brand.

Until Marie noticed it.

He was in the middle of a sentence when she grabbed his arm, and examined his wrist. She had never seen a brand before, so she had no way of knowing that his wasn't active. Her expression was horrified as she asked, "They-they made you a l'Cie again? Is that why you left?"

"No." Hope said softly, "That's only been there since this morning." he took his arm back, "Not sure why."

"Do you know your focus?" Jano asked.

Hope shook his head, "My brand isn't active, as far as I know, I don't have one."

Vanille hadn't spoken much, since she knew most of what Hope was telling them, but when the conversation turned to Hope's brand, she got an anxious knot in her stomach, and her expression turned sad.

"Are you okay?" Marie asked her.

She wasn't sure. She'd finally gotten Hope back, she finally knew that he loved her. He kissed her. They got to be happy for a few short hours, and then he woke up with a brand. And no one even knew why. She answered Marie honestly, "I don't know."

"Well," Jano said, "I haven't seen this guy in twenty-five years, but, if I remember one thing, it's that nothing stops him. Not even a lousy brand. I wouldn't worry too much."

Hope laughed, "You make me sound like some kind of superhero."

"That's what you get for telling stories to little boys." Jano laughed too, "We all saw you as a hero, whether you liked it or not."

"Well, I'm not much of a hero, all I do these days is make more enemies."

"Yeah, like that guy who nearly killed you?" Jano suddenly looked thoughtful, "What was his name again?"

"Trip. Why?"

"Trip..." Jano's eyes widened, "Wait a minute, I know him."

Marie looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Jano looked at her, "Remember that guy who came in the other day?"

Recognition showed on her face, "Oh..."

Hope glanced from one to the other, "What are you guys talking about?"

Jano gave him a serious look, "Trip... he's here in the village."


	17. Fang's Thoughts

_Who the hell does he think he is, lying to us. We're not the enemy! And Lightning, telling me to talk to him. What makes her think he'll tell the truth? She doesn't know him anymore, she said it herself. I don't understand why she still cares about the kid, I mean, he left them. Didn't even tell them he was going, far as I can tell. _

_And this whole, 'trying to get Vanille and me back' crap. There is _no way_ that is actually why he left. I mean, _come on_, seriously? That is such a _Snow_ thing to do. Kid's not that stupid. What do I know, he probably is, leaving for six hundred years without a word. Idiot. Should've punched him in the face when I had the chance._

**_But then you would have had to punch through Vanille, too._**

_Shut up. Would've been her own fault, defending him like that. Why the hell did she do that, anyway? He was gonna let me hit him, smart, why did she have to go step in? Grr._

**_She's in love with him._**

_Shut up! That whole thing is crap. She barely knows him, even less now, even Miss Soldier doesn't know him. How can she be 'in love' with him? She's just a kid, how can she even know what love is? Probably just a little crush 'cause she thinks he's cute. And him... He's been alone all these years, probably just desperate._

**_What about her dreams?_**

_Dreams?_

**_You know. You just refuse to remember them because she dreamed of her death._**

_Shut up. Yeah, I remember the dreams. Just proves that he's useless, didn't do a damn thing to save her._

**_He tried._**

_Would you shut up already? This is rediculous. Screw what Lightning says, I'm gonna kill him._

**_No you're not. You're just mad at him because he reminds you of-_**

_Oh, no. We are NOT going down memory lane. And he doesn't remind me of _anyone_. He's just a stupid kid who's got my little sister caught up in his desperate game, lying to us for no damn good reason, and I am NOT going to let him get away with it. Lightning might want to play it nice, give him a chance to explain himself, but there is no way I am going to sit and listen to him spew more lies. _

_If he wants to lie to me, then he's gonna pay._

* * *

**Just a little look into Fang's messed up mind. :)**


	18. How Far?

**Author's Note:** Did anybody catch it?

* * *

Lightning looked over at Fang and saw her clenching her fists. The Pulsian wore an extremely agitated expression and seemed to be giving something serious consideration.

The silence that had plagued them for the last fifteen minutes was broken when Fang said, "How far would you go for Serah?"

Lightning stayed mute for a while. She knew where this was coming from. If she was honest with herself, she didn't completely understand Fang's anger. Sure, Hope's lie was unnecessary and inconvienient, but there was no reason fot her to be so furious. There had to be a deeper reason, something she was taking out on Hope. Lightning had been known to do the same thing, even Snow had done it once or twice. Whatever Fang's true reasoning, Lightning felt compelled to give her a straight answer, "I would do anything for her."

Fang sighed and turned to her friend, "Are you gonna try and stop me?"

Here we go. "I don't think fighting is going to solve anything, but you've got something you need to work out of your system. If fighting with Hope is your only outlet, be my guest. You can't kill him anyway."

"You keep saying that. Does the truth of the legend go that for? Eternal life?"

"How do you think Hope survived all this time alone?"

"Pure stupidity." Fang wrung her hands, "But for you, I'll bite. Eternal life, huh? Sounds like a cosmic punishment to me. I slept through one hell just to wake up to a new one."

Was being in crystal stasis really hell? Lightning hadn't been long enough to really know. She remembered it being cold. She remembered being able to feel the others, Snow's rash confidence, Sazh's wisdom, Hope's silent strength, but being completely seperate. Then she was free, hearing Hope say that his brand was gone, and finally seeing her sister again. She didn't know how long she was crystal, but it wasn't long at all. How must it feel to be in a perpetual state of sleep, dreaming the entire time? Serah had said before that she felt it was very much like death. Serah had only been asleep for a week, but Fang and Vanille had been for a total of eleven hundred years. That must have seemed like hell to them.

"What was it like?" Lightning asked, "Crystal stasis?"

"Hell." Fang answered, "It was... cold, but we didn't feel anything. Our spirits could feel one another, but after a few days we weren't able to communicate with each other. We were constantly dreaming, of our Focus, our past, and sometimes, you guys." Fang's voice got quiet, "Vanille... I could see into her dreams sometimes. Each one was different, but they were all the same."

"Hope would try to save her from being killed." Lightning filled in, "But he never could, and she would die."

Fang nodded.

"Is that why you're mad at him? Because he could never save her?"

"No." Fang sighed, "You were right, it killed him to watch her die. I only saw a fraction of her dreams, but every time..." she swallowed, "She was so scared..."

"Well, it wasn't any better on his side. It was like watching someone as they're being tortured, sounded like it, too. His entire body fought for her, and when he screamed..." Lightning's heart clenched, "...Do you still want to fight him?"

Fang's expression hardened, "He's gotta pay."

Lightning sighed.

The sigh held traces of exasperation. Traces that wormed their way into Fang's heart and struck her anger chords. She stood quickly and stormed out of the room, out of the building, leaving a bewildered Lightning behind. She just _didn't understand!_

Fang wandered in her anger. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't really care. She was too busy trying to sort through all the feelings that the sigh dredged up: anger, frusteration, guilt, pain, fear. Each one of those and more burned it's way painfully to the front of her mind, but she fought them back. She couldn't deal with this right now. She just couldn't, she-

"_I'm sorry, Fang, I-"_

NO! With the entire force of her will, she refused to remember that memory, refused to have that image in her head again. She found herself by what looked like a storage shed, and threw a punch at it. The old wood left splinters in her hand, and she loved the pain, it distracted her from having to think. She made to punch the shed again, but someone grabbed her arm.

"Fang?"

Him.

Fang turned and looked Hope dead in the eye, "What do you want?"

He backed off, "Sorry, I just-"

"No! You and I need to talk."

"Fang..."

"No, Vanille, listen. I just wanna talk to him, alright?"

"You promise not to hit him?" Vanille said doubtfully.

Silence.

"Then I'm not going anywhere."

Fang met the red head's stubborn gaze with an annoyed one, but only for a few seconds. She rolled her eyes, "Fine."

"Okay, now that's settled." Hope looked between the two, then kept his eyes on Fang, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why did you lie to us?"

Hope's face paled, not that it could get much paler, he looked down at his shoes. "Come on, kid!" Fang said angrily, "Why did you lie about that damn cave?"

"I'm not a kid." Hope muttered, "I haven't been a kid for over _six hundred years_."

"Then act like an adult and tell the truth!"

Now Hope's eyes flashed with anger, "Why do you care, anyway? Why can't you just be like Light and shrug it off? We're here aren't we? Gaan's agreed to get us a ride home, why can't you just be okay with that?"

"Because you _lied_!" Fang raged, "_You _lied, and now _you_ have to pay the price!"

"It's really not a big deal, Fang." Vanille tried to tell her.

"Don't you care? He tells you he loves you and then lies to your face?"

Vanille's cheeks burned, "Actually, he lied first."

"Whatever order it happened in, he still lied, and that's my point!"

"Alright, Fang, that's enough." Hope said as calmly as he could.

Fang turned to him.

* * *

**Sorry that argument was so stupid, as pointed out in the last chapter, Fang's mind is messed up.**

**A lot of stuff has been going on in the past few chapters, and I'd like to know what you guys think about where the story is going. Your opinions, your guesses, your questions, anything. Soooooooo...**

**Please review!**


	19. Tear-Soaked Feathers

**Author's Note:** This story has gotten over 3,600 views! I love you guys. Seeing numbers rise makes my day, sometimes my week :) This probably sounds cheesy, but this story wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you lovely readers, seeing those numbers go up and reading reviews gives me motivation to write. So thanks to all of you :)

Stepping back a few seconds...

* * *

"Alright, Fang, that's enough." Hope said as calmly as he could.

Fang turned to him, "Stay out of it, Kace!"

* * *

It took Fang a few seconds to realize what she'd said, but Vanille caught it instantly, "F-Fang?"

Her 'sister's' expression went straight from angry to horrified. She stared at Hope, who was completely confused, for a moment. Then her face twisted in pain. She gave an agonized snarl, shoved Hope out of her way, and ran.

Vanille's heart broke as she watched her friend run away. She hadn't thought about Kace in centuries, neither of them had. Fang had buried him in her mind, refused to acknowledge that he ever existed. But in doing so, she worsened the scars that he left on her heart, scars that were still tender. Suddenly things made sense. Fang wasn't really mad at Hope, at least, not entirely. She was still mad at Kace, hurt by what he did to her. Something Hope had done broke the memories out of their cell. Fang couldn't give Kace a piece of her mind anymore, so she was taking it out on Hope.

"Vanille... who's Kace?"

His voice came from below her, Fang had shoved him onto the ground. She laced her fingers together, searching for an answer. "He's... someone who hurt her, a long time ago."

Hope stood, dusting himself off, "Should we go after her?"

Vanille shook her head slowly, "At least, not without Lightning. Fang will never admit it, but she needs us. All of us. She's held this in for too long, even I don't know what happened with him, not really."

"Whatever he did to her, she's taking it out on me now, isn't she?"

"I think so."

Hope stared off in the direction Fang ran, "Let's go find Light."

* * *

Fang ended up at the Chocobo pen. She fell to her knees and clawed at the soft soil, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. She'd done it, she'd said his name. His name hadn't been spoken aloud by _anyone_ in over a thousand years. Not since he-

"Damnit, Kace!" She screamed. A few chocobos gave startled "Kweh!"'s. She slammed her fist into the dirt, "Why did you-" She choked, a few tears slipped down her cheeks, her shoulders shook. It hurt so much, oh, goddess, it hurt.

She felt a feathery head butt into hers. She looked up, and through her blurred vision saw the chocobo from earlier, the one who pulled the cart. The bird nestled her head into Fang's shoulder, trying to comfort her. The sweet affection from the chocobo made it impossible for Fang to control her emotions. She wrapped her arms around the bird's neck and cried. Thank the goddess Snow wasn't here. He'd make fun of her till the day they died, forever. The mighty Fang, bawling her eyes out while clinging to a big, yellow bird for comfort. Fang laughed somewhere between the sobs, she almost missed that big lug...

The chocobo lied down in front of her, allowing for a less awkward position. She put her head in Fang's lap, letting the Pulsian stroke her head. Fang fingered the soft feathers, now wet from her tears.

"'Fang is the strongest person I've ever met.' That's what my dad says Hope told him."

Fang turned her head to the left and saw that kid, what's his name, sitting on the fence. He jumped down, and joined her in petting the chocobo, "Looks like even the strong ones have cracks."

"Tsk." She looked away from him.

"I heard you shouting at your friends earlier." the kid said nonchalantly, "What did Hope do to you?"

She didn't respond.

"Are you alright?"

"Why do you care?" She snapped.

The kid was unfazed by her reaction, "Hope told my parents a lot of stories, they told me." He stroked the chocobo's neck, and she closed her eyes contentedly, "Unless I forgot something, Vanille's all you've got, right? With Hope being in love with her, I just thought you might be a bit lonely."

Fang grunted, and wiped off her face with one hand, "Well, it's not that you forgot anything." She sighed, "Vanille might be the only one left from home, but she's not all I have anymore. Hope and Lightning are my family now, too. And everyone else at our new home."

"So... who's Kace?"

Fang suddenly went cold, "None of your business."

"Fair enough." He stopped asking questions, and simply ran his hands through the chocobo's feathers.

* * *

"There she is!" Vanille cried.

Fang was sitting in the chocobo pen with Deran, a chocobo's head on her lap. The two were just petting the chocobo. Lightning gave a sigh of relief, she was afraid Fang might do something violent, but she did the exact opposite.

Vanille jogged towards her 'sister', and Hope and Lightning followed more cautiously. When Vanille reached Fang, she plopped down and stroked the chocobo's soft feathers. Hope stayed by the fence, and Lightning approached the Oerban.

"Hey, Fang."

"Lightning." There was no emotion in her voice.

Lightning stopped just behind her friend, "You okay?"

"I'm alive, right?"

"...Listen, Vanille told me about Kace. That he hurt you." Fang started to shake her head, but Lightning continued, "If you wanna talk, Fang, we're here for you. You don't have to keep everything bottled up anymore."


	20. Kace

**Author's Note:** Sorry about my note on the last one. It was kinda... stupid...

Prepare yourselves guys. That's all I can say. Just prepare yourselves.

* * *

"She doesn't know everything." Now Fang's voice was beginning to shake.

"I know." Lightning knelt beside her friend, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You probably have a reason you didn't tell her, and we respect that. But the longer you hold this in, the more it's gonna hurt each time it his you, because you have to face it on your own, because you don't have anyone to share that pain pain with. We can help you, Fang. You don't have to face it on your own, we're family, remember?"

Daren sensed that the conversation was getting personal, so he slipped away.

Fang's entire body began to shake, and the chocobo cuddled her head into her lap some more. Fang swallowed a few times before managing, "I... I-I can't."

Vanille gently grabbed one of her hands, "It's okay, Fang. No one else has to know. We won't tell Snow, or Sazh, or Serah, unless you want to. It can stay between the four of us, but you can't keep holding it in."

They were right. She knew it, but... It hurt too much. And... she was ashamed. Her part in what happened... she was so predictable! So human. She was just a kid, but she was smarter than that! She should've- Her body shook harder, she tried to fight back the tears, she didn't want to cry in front of them, but her efforts were in vain. Soon, she was sobbing again.

Vanille made to embrace Fang, and the chocobo moved so she could do so, though the bird didn't go very far. Fang melted into her 'sister's' thin body. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she control herself? What happened... it happened over eleven hundred years ago, she should have gotten over it, but...

"I can't." she sobbed.

Lightning squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, "It's alright, Fang. We're not going to force you."

"I was so stupid..."

"No..." Vanille soothed.

"You were only sixteen, you don't know..." Fang choked, "I believed every..."

She sighed, "I believed him. I swallowed all the crap he gave me. And then he-"

Lightning squeezed her shoulder again, and Vanille pulled away from her 'sister', two pairs of green eyes meeting. Then Fang pulled away from both of them, rose and went to the chocobo, which had quickly become her friend. She ran her fingers through the golden feathers in a robotic fashion. "First time I met him, we were about six." The story began to tumble from her lips, "Boys and girls were usually seperated at the orphanage, but not on holidays. We met on the night of the Hunter's Feast. We played together, nothing special." The words stopped, because the hard ones were coming. The ones that would likely tear up her heart worse than it already was.

Let the tearing begin.

"Next time I saw him, we were sixteen. We started talking, and eventually he told me that he really liked me, that I was beautiful and that he'd wanted to tell me that for ten years." Fang swallowed, and took a shaky breath, "We started seeing each other, which Vanille just thought was adorable."

"I fell in love with him. Seems stupid now, but... I did. He was... well..." she glanced back at Vanille, "Just like Hope, actually. Except he didn't mean any of it. But he was pretty damn good at faking." Why was she telling them this? Fang's fingers got tangled in the chocobo's feathers, she gripped them, "He just turned eighteen-" She shook, and once again failed to stop the tears, "There was this drink. Some rite of passage thing. Strong stuff." The chocobo cooed at her. "He, uh... He came to my foster home that night, I was home by myself... He was all over me, saying that-that I was going to help him become a man." The sound of clinking beads came from behind her, and she felt Vanille's soft hands on her shoulders. Fang recoiled from her 'sister's' touch. "I pushed him off me, and he got really pissed. He shoved me back, and started shouting. He admitted that he never loved me, he just went after me because I was the strongest. That stung. I got in his face, called him a lying bastard. I couldn't believe him."

"He was drunk. He mistook my anger for passion. He grabbed me, and kissed me. I tried to shove him away again but... he-he shoved me against the wall. He-" She stopped. They didn't need to know the details, especially Vanille. But she needed to finish the story, "He raped me." Gasps.

"I woke up the next morning. Alone. I curled up in a ball and cried, I'd never felt so powerless in my life. I don't know how long I stayed like that... My foster mom came in and... I told her everything. She was outraged. She told the Elders, and Ka- he was banished on the spot."

"So that's why he left..." Vanille whispered.

"Fang... I'm so sorry..."

Fang grunted, "No need, soldier girl." The chocobo nuzzled into her face, wiping away any trace of tears. She chuckled a little. Maybe... maybe she should have told someone a long time ago. She felt... lighter, somehow. No matter how light she felt though, it still hurt. She sighed. Now a few things had to be apologized for. She turned to Lightning, "Where's Hope?"

He cautiously stepped forward. From his place by the fence, he heard Fang's entire story. He just wasn't sure if she knew he heard. "Fang?"

She looked him dead in the eye, which was harder than it should have been. Damn, he was tall. "Listen, kid. I'm sorry. Every time I looked at you, I-I saw him. I took my anger out on you, and that wasn't right. You aren't him." She punched him lightly on the arm, "So... take good care of Vanille, okay?"

Hope punched her back, "Count on it."

* * *

They headed back to an inn of sorts, where Gaan had set up a place for them to stay until he arranged for them to leave. On the way there, Hope just happened to look to the side, and he saw something that he wished he hadn't.

Him...

He stopped walking. Vanille, who held his hand, stopped too. "What?"

"It's... Trip."


	21. Dead Brands

**Author's Note:** So, what did you guys think of Fang's... story?

Stuff goes DOWN in this chapter. But not the kind of stuff you'd think...

* * *

"Where?" She followed his gaze, "Oh."

Hope turned to her, "You go ahead, I'll catch up later."

Vanille didn't want to leave him, "I'll go with you!"

"Vanille, look at him, I'll be fine. And besides," he squeezed her hand lightly, "he can't kill me anyway, even if he tried."

"I know, but..."

"It's okay. You go join up with Light and Fang, I'll be there soon."

He kissed her on the cheek and tried to walk away, but Vanille kept her grip on his hand, "Hope..."

"It'll be alright, Vanille. Trust me."

She felt in her heart that it was wrong to leave him, even though her brain told her he'd be fine. She hadn't been sure things would work out in the past, back in Oerba. No one caught her eye, though she caught the eyes of many. She didn't think she'd ever find someone. And then, in another lifetime, when she met Hope, something about him... She'd been devestated when she had to leave him behind, though if it meant he could live, she knew it was worth it. Then there were those dreams... Six hundred years of reflection, six hundred years of watching him try to save her. She realized that she loved him. But it was different from the way she loved Fang. It was deeper. It hurt. Especially after the first hundred years, when she realized that he was probably dead, and that she'd never see him again. But in that last dream, when he held her. Something clicked. And then when she faded from crystal stasis a second time, and she saw him, still young, still alive... No words exist in any language that could express her joy.

And then their dream came true. He loved her.

And then they kissed.

In the beginning, Vanille had watched Fang and Kace with a bit of envy. They seemed to be perfect. She wanted that. She wanted someone to love her like she thought Kace loved Fang.

And then it went wrong.

Perfect, apparently, has a few imperfections.

When she got Hope back, Vanille thought that she had gotten her 'perfect', that all their imperfections had already passed.

But then... his brand...

She didn't want to lose him to this imperfection, she didn't want to lose him ever.

She looked him in they eye, "You promise you'll come back to me?"

"Believe me, I'm not going anywhere. I'll come back." He glanced up at Cocoon, "I swear on my mother's grave."

She believed him.

He sealed his promise with a kiss. "Go ahead and catch up. I'll be back soon."

"Okay." Vanille reluctantly released Hope's hand, and began to jog toward their friends. After a few feet, she turned back to Hope.

"I love you." she told him.

"I love you, too."

Vanille chewed her bottom lip for a moment, taking a few steps backwards. Hope nodded, and she ran after Lightning and Fang.

* * *

Hope watched Vanille for a few seconds, then turned to the building in front of him. He watched his enemy through the window for another handful of seconds, then proceeded to knock on the door.

The woman who answered looked tired, and on-edge. She had to look up at Hope, who was much taller than her. "Do you need something?"

"Yes. I'd like to see my friend Trip."

"You know him?" she said skeptically.

"Yeah, we go way back."

She glanced over to her right, "Does he have any family? He keeps mumbling about someone named 'Hope.'"

"That's me. And no, he hasn't had family since he was seventeen."

The wonam looked back up at him with a sad expression, "You'd better go in then, he doesn't have much time left."

* * *

It took Vanille a few minutes to catch up to Lightning and Fang. (They always had been faster than the rest of the group) When she finally did, Fang asked, "Where the hell have you been? And where's Hope?"

Vanille took a moment to catch her breath. She hadn't ran the _whole_ time, but she did go faster than she normally would. "He saw Trip, and went to go talk to him."

"What!? And you let him go?" Lightning said.

"I didn't _want_ to!"

"Wait a minute, hold up. Who's Trip?"

"The man who nearly killed him the day before you guys returned."

"Damn..."

"Vanille, where'd he go? I need to go check on him."

"He'll be fine. Do you think I'd let him go if I didn't believe that?"

"Lightning, he's not a kid anymore, he can take care of himself."

Boy was that the truth. "I know, but you weren't there when Trip- You weren't there when Hope stopped-" she shook her head, "I just need to check."

Vanille told her which building Hope went in, and she set off.

* * *

"Hey, Trip."

Trip looked horrible. His skin had a greenish tint to it, and was very pale. He was covered in sweat, his breathing slow and shallow. When Hope spoke he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot. He stared at the man he thought ha had killed for a minute, maybe two. Then in a weak, raspy voice, he said, "You come to haunt me?"

"That depends on your definition of 'dead.'"

Trip's hollow gaze took on a hint of confusion after a few seconds, "You me-an, I didn't kill you?"

Hope shook his head, "No."

"But, I-I felt... I-I felt your ribs br-eak. Under my kne-es. How?"

"Well," Hope took a few steps forward, "I'm not exactly human, not anymore."

"Then what... are you?"

"I'm... an ex-l'Cie."

Trip gave a weak laugh that turned into a coughing fit. When he got it under control, he said, "You, a l'Cie? Yeah, r-ight."

The woman who let Hope in poked her head in the door, "Is everything alright?"

"Fine." Trip told her. She left.

Hope held up his wrist, showing Trip his scorched brand, "Believe me now?"

The look of confusion returned to Trip's hollow eyes. Hope took a seat beside the man's bed. "I was born over six hundred years ago. I was branded when I was fourteen, along with three others."

"...Six?"

Hope nodded, "So you know part of the story. Two were already l'Cie. We all shared the same Focus: Destroy Cocoon. We found a loophole. We were turned to crystal. We gained eternal life, which apparently still applied when we were released."

"Tha-at's why I couldn't kill you? Bec-ause I can't?"

Hope could lie, say yes, and get away with it. He already had for so many years. But telling the truth here really wouldn't matter. Dead men are really good at keeping secrets.

"Actually... there is a way." Balancing his elbows on his knees, he said quietly, "My brand. If you shot me through the wrist right now, I'd be dead in a minute."

"Ho-w do you know tha-at?"

Hope made a face, "Believe me, you don't want to know."

Trip jerked into a coughing fit again, the violent coughs lasted longer than the last time. He coughed up a bit of blood.

"What happened to you?"

"I met the... business end *cough* of your kni-fe. Or do you not re-member?" He sighed, "Cut got infected."

"I'm sorry."

"What're you apologizing fo-r? You weren't the o-ne who went on a stu-upid rage." He coughed again, "I still ha-ate your guts."

"Can't seem to get away from that these days."

Trip coughed yet again, his bloodshot eyes stared at the ceiling, "I used to ha-ave myself a girl. Real pretty. Only pers-son that didn't hate m-e." He turned his head to Hope, "You think you're gon-na find your girl?"

Hope gave a small smile, "I already did."

"Good... that's good..." His breathing slowed a bit more, he shivered, "It-It's cold in here." He just stared at-no, _past_ Hope, his eyes beyond hollow. Dead.

"Trip?"

He jerked back to reality, barely. "Hope," he whispered, "I'm sorry. Tell your girl I'm sorry, sorry I tried to take you from her."

"I will."

A hint of a smile crossed Trip's features. He slowly laid back and closed his eyes, took a breath.

And breathed no more.

In all his years, Hope had watched a lot of people die, many by his own hand. Sometimes he felt anger, sadness, regret, and even relief. But this time, he felt... inexplicably calm. Technically, he killed Trip, his blood added to the river of blood spilled by Hope's hand. But this time was different. Something told him he wasn't to blame for this death.

"So... the whole time, you knew we could die, just like him?"

Hope turned around.

Lightning.

* * *

**This is far from over.**


	22. Dreams

**_The dreams sieze their bodies. They feel. They hear. They see. They move. _**

**_As seen by an outsider, one not in the other realm, they are there. They are whole. This is not so. Their emotions are the only things that exist in both realms, and in the one of the living, they mimic the realm of the imagined._**

**_What they wish to do in the realm of imaginings, they do in the realm of the living. They scream screams that rip through their souls. They writhe in contortions of pain, beyond even imagining. They cry the tears of their loved ones. They moan for loss that is too painful to do much more._**

**_The realm of imaginings tears them apart, too alike they tear the living._**

* * *

"Light, I-"

"Save it." The soldier appeared calm, but her blue eyes gave away her true feelings: anger. She walked to Hope's side, "He's gone?"

"Yes." Hope lowered his voice so she could just barely make out what he said, "Yet another person I've outlived."

The tired young woman from earlier stepped into the room, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." She stared at Trip's face, he looked as though he might simply be sleeping. "So... the poor man finally died?"

"Yes." Hope repeated.

"Is it wrong to say I'm glad? He suffered so much..." She sighed, "I'll see to having him buried."

"Can you let me know when you have that worked out?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." Hope stood and began to walk out, with Lightning following behind, but the young woman stopped him. "Thank you for sitting with him until... He seemed like a very lonely man."

"I wish I could say that he wasn't. And thank you for taking care of him. If you hadn't, I could never have made things, well, not _right, _but better."

"It was my pleasure." The woman started to tear up. Not wanting to cry in front of strangers, she fled the room.

* * *

Once outside, Lightning shoved Hope roughly against the wall, "What the hell!" She cried.

"Light-"

"You told me, _to my face_, that we couldn't die! And the whole time, you knew we had a-a..." she spluttered for a moment, "A self-destruct button hidden in plain sight! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Light, I-"

"Never mind." She interrupted, "I don't wanna know." She ran a hand across her scalp, releasing an angry puff of air. "Who else knows?"

"Besides you and me, no one."

"We need to change that. And by 'we' I mean '_you_'. _You_ are telling Fang and Vanille, and when we get home, _you_ are telling everyone else."

"No! Light, don't you get it? The more people that know, the more likely someone we _don't_ want to know is going to find out! I don't want to take the chance that-"

"Do you really think any of us would say anything?"

"No, but-"

"End of discussion." She snapped.

* * *

_"Hope!"_

_Hope turned to see Vanille, and suddenly the rest of the world came into focus._

_"We're... in the Yaschas Massif." He said, glancing around at the familiar landscape._

_"Yup!" She giggled, "Now, where _exactly_ are we?"_

_It took a second to register. No wonder this place was so familiar._

_"Oh, goddess..."_

_Vanille laughed, then sighed. She took a seat in the exact place she had sat all those years ago..._

_Hope did the same._

_"How'd it go with Trip?"_

_"Oh, uh, he's dead..."_

_"I'm sorry..."_

_"It's alright. Oh, he wanted to apologize to you, for trying to take me away from you."_

_Vanille linked her fingers the way she had done for the fish. She closed her eyes, bowed her head and said, "I forgive him."_

_There was a peaceful silence between them. The exotic birds of Pulse sang their beautiful songs, the flowers showed off their vibrant colors. Somewhere deep in their hearts they both wished they could just stay in that moment forever. No pressure, no worries, just each other._

_Being where they were, something surfaced in Hope's mind, "You know, I really wasn't joking, what I said."_

_"You already told me." She said with a slight laugh._

_"I know, but, this place... You can't tell me you weren't thinking about it, too."_

_"Yeah, I was..." She fit her hand to his like a puzzle piece, "I was thinking about how I felt, when you said those things."_

_"How did you feel?"_

_"I-I'm not sure. You were so young, and... and I'd never felt that way before. I guess I was... conflicted."_

_"Well..." Hope took the hand that wasn't intertwined with hers, and turned her face towards his own, then leaned in so they were only inches apart, "How do you feel now?"_

_"I-I feel..." Vanille's cheeks burned. She gaped for a few moments, trying to form words. Hope chuckled a little, and closed the gap between them._

_They had no idea how long they stayed like that, oxygen was wasted on tham. It could have been seconds, minutes, days, or years. They didn't care. As long as their other half was there, nothing else mattered._

_The thing that finally broke them apart was a sharp pain in Vanille's left side. She gasped and curled inward, reaching for the source of the overwhelming pain. When she touched the cold metal piercing her thigh, she groaned, feeling suddenly weak, and collapsed into Hope. The boy she fell in love with cradled her, his soul feeling like it had shattered. "Hope..." The dying girl moaned._

_"Vanille, no... Why is this happening!" He shouted to the sky._

_The voice that had haunted Hope's dreams before boomed, "I warned you, l'Cie."_

_"Why are you doing this!" he screamed, "Don't take her away from me! Not again!"_

_"Hope..." Vanille sounded a little too calm for comfort, "It's okay..."_

_"No, Vanille, it's not! I-"_

_But it didn't matter what he said._

_She was already dead._

_The old man's scream of agony killed the birdsong, dimmed the flowers, and utterly shredded the world._


	23. They're Dreaming

**Author's Note: **Bonjour! And no, I'm not French :) Haha, well, anyway, I wanted to interrupt the story for a minute to say that I have absolutely no idea how much longer this story is going to be (but it will probably reach at least 30 chapters... maybe), and I want to know if you guys want me to continue?

* * *

Fang woke up to Vanille screaming.

The Oerban sprang out of bed and raced to where her 'sister' slept, having just enough sense to open the door the right way. The younger girl was tangled up in her sheets, twisting, writhing, screaming like she had when she was tortured by Orphan, only worse. Fang was dimly aware of another source of screaming, but she didn't much care. Something was wrong with Vanille.

She rushed to Vanille's side, and began to try to hold her down, to keep her from hurting herself.

"Vanille! Vanille, it's me! It's me, Fang! Everything's alright! Calm down!"

"She can't hear you."

Fang whipped around to see Lightning standing in the doorway. "What do you mean, _she can't hear me?_ What's going on!?" Fang demanded.

"They're dreaming."

"They? They who?"

Lightning didn't answer her, she didn't have to. The next scream that met their ears was answer enough. It wasn't Vanille. Hope's scream was born from the very depths of pain and agony, as id his soul had been plunged into the very pits of hell. The immense amount of raw emotion in his voice just...

In the silence that followed, a small gasp came from behind them, and that's when they noticed.

Vanille had stopped screaming.

She lay like a silent statue on her bed, eyes wide open, barely breathing. The look on her face...

"Vanille?" Fang whispered cautiously.

As if on cue, Vanille somehow untangled herself and lept out of ned. Not even noticing the two women watching her, she raced out of the room.

"What the?"

Fang and Lightning followed Vanille... to Hope's room. There was evidence of movement, but the man in the bed appeared stationary.

Until they noticed that he was shaking horribly, muttering incomprehensible things.

The two of them hung back in the doorway, while Vanille went to Hope's side. She clasped one of his shaking hands and began to speak, "Please, hear me, Hope. It isn't real. What you see isn't real. I'm not gone, I'm right here. Please, Hope..."

While Vanille continued to say such things, continued to beg for him to hear her, Fang turned to Lightning and whispered, "What's going on?"

"Well, you remember that dream I said Hope had?" Lightning replied.

"Yeah."

"He was reacting just like Vanille. Screaming, moving like... It looks like they're connected when they dream."

Several puzzle pieces began to fit together, "Oh..."

It took Vanille a while to draw Hope out from wherever he was. At first it seemed like her talking to him wasn't working, he was still shaking and muttering to himself. But gradually his shaking was reduced to slight vibrations, and he opened his eyes.

"V-Vanille?" he mumbled.

"Yes, Hope, I'm right here." she pulled him into a hug, "I'm right here."

* * *

Hope knelt by the freshly turned earth. Trip had been buried that morning, a lonely grave by a lonely tree. He would've preferred it that way. Independent to the last.

"I'm sorry it turned out this way, Trip." He said to the grave, "There were so many things I could've done differently, things I could've said." Hope sighed, "I just hope that you forgive me, wherever you are."

A friendly breeze blew at that moment, blowing away some of the weight on his shoulders. Hope glanced down at his brand, if only that could blow away so easily. But, if anything, it had done the opposite of blow away. It changed. The burned white had gotten darker, the design more defined. The girls hadn't noticed, thank the goddess. There was no need for them to worry.

"Hey, Hope." came Vanille's voice from behind him, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." Hope stood, "Just saying goodbye." He turned to her and smiled, "What about you? Are you ready to see the others again?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, "It's been so long..."

"Don't worry, they haven't changed much." Lightning said as she walked up, "Come on, let's go home."


	24. Home

**Author's Note:** Hi, guys. It's nice to see that a few people want to see this continue on :) Well, another interruption to say that honestly, any critisism at this point would be helpful, constructive or not (though if you hate this then please just walk away). Haters can hate, but they can't make a writer stop writing.

And, er... I _really_ don't like Snow, so if he seems kinda... extra stupid, I apologize.

On another note: I'm not that good at writing reunion scenes, but I'm satisfied with it, and I hope you like it too!

* * *

Lightning took a breath as she prepared to knock on the door. If she remembered correctly, she hadn't seen her sister in months, and Serah could sometimes get a little... excited.

She knocked on the door.

Said door was opened seconds later by Serah, who, with a look of surprise on her face, cried excitedly, "Lightning!"

"Hey, Serah."

The older of the two was soon trapped in a tight hug, "Oh, Claire! I didn't think I'd see you again! They- they told us you were dead!"

Lightning pulled away from her sister a little, "Why would they say that?"

"I think they said there was an explosion or something. But it doesn't matter 'cause you're home!" Serah pulled Lightning back in, "Where have you been?"

Thankfully, Serah couldn't see the sly smile that crossed Lightning's face, "I've been... with a friend."

Serah finally let go of her sister, "Who?" she asked, trying to think of someone who _wouldn't_ tell her her sister was still alive.

And that's when Hope walked up.

Serah's eyes widened almost more than possible. She stared at the man in front of her, grown older than she remembered. The man they'd thought was dead for centuries.

"Hi, Serah."

She didn't say anything, and for a moment Hope thought she was going to hit him or something. Or maybe she really believed he was dead, and thought she was seeing things.

After a few seconds she seemed to have accepted that he was real, because she hugged him with even more force than she had her sister.

"Hope! Oh, goddess, Hope you're home!"

The smaller woman was certainly stronger than she looked; within seconds Hope's lungs were begging for the oxygen they didn't need.

"Uh, Serah, I can't breathe."

"Sorry!" she backed off, "Where have you been?"

Hope was going to respond, but someone else cut him off.

"Yeah, Hope. Where've you been?"

Snow appeared in the doorway behind his wife, arms croseed, expression unreadable.

"Where haven't I been?" Hope said lightly.

"Here."

Hope almost drowned in guilt, "I'm sorry, Snow." he began.

"You're sorry!?" Snow raged.

"Snow!" Serah cried.

"Cut it out!" Lightning scolded.

Snow grumbled, but kept his mouth shut.

"Yes, Snow, I'm sorry. But I left for a reason."

The older man mumbles something that sounded suspiciously like, "Yeah, right."

Anger melted away the guilt, "I left for Vanille and Fang! I wanted-"

"-To bring them back?" Snow couldn't keep quiet any longer, "In case you hadn't noticed, it's been _six hundred years, _they're not coming back!"

"Oh, really? Well, I guess the past few days have only been a dream, Vanille."

Snow gaped as Fang and Vanille walked up behind Hope and stood on either side of him. "Now, what was that you were saying?" Fang teased.

"I-uh..."

"Uh-huh, that's what I thought."

"How?"

"We really don't know." Vanille shrugged.

"So you're Fang?" Serah asked.

"Yeah. You must be Lightning's little sister. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you guys never met." Hope said.

"I feel like I've already met you though." Serah admitted, "I've heard so much about you."

Fang smiled, "Likewise." She turned to Snow, "So big guy, what's with all the hate on my sister's boyfriend?"

Snow raised his eyebrows, "Boyfriend?"

"Fang..."

"Don't even deny it, kid."

"Well, _geeze_, Hope. I didn't know you liked Vanille like that."

"Snow, are you _blind_?"

"What?"

Lightning's shoulders were shaking from holding in laughter, Vanille giggled a little, and Fang was openly laughing. Snow was as oblivious as ever and Hope hadn't been this embarrassed in...

"Are you telling me you _really_ never noticed?" Serah asked.

"Uh... maybe?"

Serah just rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "So, where've you guys been?"

"That's a long story." Hope told her.

"Do you know how old we are? We got nothing _but_ time." Snow said.

So they went inside, and the story began to flow. First from Hope, then Lightning, and finally Fang and Vanille jumped in. Unlike when Hope told the story to Marie, they didn't leave anything out, so when they gopt to the part about Hope's brand...

"What!" Serah grabbed Hope's wrist, and sure enough, his brand was there. It broke her heart. "Oh, no..."

"Why? I mean, what..."

Hope shook his head, "We don't know Snow. There's a lot of things we don't know."

"Well do you... I mean, have you seen...?"

Hope shook his head again, "I don't have a Focus."

"That doesn't make sense..." Serah couldn't fathom this. How could he not have a Focus?

A ringing sound came from within the house.

"Probably Sazh." Snow said off-handedly.

Serah stood suddenly, "Crap!" she cried, "I forgot he has Chase!" she ran out of the room.

"Who's Chase?" Fang asked.

"Our son. We adopted him. The details took forever, but it was finally over..." He looked at Lightning, "The day after you left, actually."

_"Hi, Sazh."_

Lightning looked completely out of it. She knew that. _She knew that._ Why didn't she remember?

_"Did he have fun?"_

"How old is he?" Vanille asked.

"He'll be five next month."

It was obvious, little kid toys were randomly placed around the room. Why didn't she notice? Why couldn't she remember?

_"Well, come on over right away."_

"Light, are you okay?"

She snapped back. She realized that she'd been staring at her hands, which were clenched into tight fists. She relaxed them and looked up at Hope, "Uh, yeah." she said, "Just thinking."

_"No, nothing's wrong, it's just... Lightning's home."_

"So, did you and Serah ever have kids of your own?" Fang inquired, "I mean, having a big happy family was all you ever talked about."

Snow rolled his eyes at her, "Well, technically, no. But Chase definitely isn't our first."

_"All right, see you in a bit."_

After a few seconds, Serah re-entered the room, "Hi. So, not that I don't want to hear more, but can you guys wait to finish your story until Sazh gets here?"

"Sure." Hope said, "Though, I guess Lightning will have to do it, since apparently she's the only one here." He smiled at her.

Serah laughed, "Oh, I just wanted to surprise him! He'll be so happy to see you guys!"


	25. Family

When Sazh finally got there, several things happened at once:

First, an excited shout as a small boy ran to his mother.

Second, a joyful, "Hey, hey, hey!" came from Sazh as he walked in on more people than he expected.

And third: almost everyone started talking at once.

"Sazh!" Vanille cried happily, jumping up to embrace her eldest friend.

"Hey, kiddo! Really missed ya!"

"How've you been old man?" Fang teased.

"Oh, _I'm_ old. Look who's talking."

"Sazh took me to the park!" Chase told Serah.

"Did you have fun?"

"Hey, Sazh." Hope spoke up.

"Hope! You finally decided to come back to us, eh?"

"I'll be honest, I wouldn't have if it weren't for the girls."

"You, my friend, have learned the most important lesson in life."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"Always listen to women. Especially those three." Sazh gave a hearty laugh.

Hope laughed too, "Ain't that the truth."

"Well don't forget about me." Serah joked.

Her comment caused Sazh to laugh again, and he and Snow began to make fun of her. They joked about her size, about how she was pretty quiet most of the time. Practically invisible. Or so they said. Fang smacked them upside the head a few times, laughing along with them, and Vanille just could not stop giggling.

This. This is what family was. What _they_ were. This haphazard group of personalities, thrown together by fate and the whim of the fal'Cie. A family. The thought brought a smile to Hope's face. He missed this.

Vanille noticed the content smile on his face. It made him look like he might _actually_ be twenty-two, instead of several hundred years old. She sat next to him and chirped, "Well, _someone_ looks happy."

Hope chuckled, "I just... miss this. You know? I never realized what having a family meant until a few seconds ago."

The two of them laughed as Chase shoved Snow, who 'got knocked over.' Everyone laughed. The amount of laughter in the past few minutes was almost ridiculous. But who really cared? It was relieving.

"Hey, Vanille."

She turned right into a trap. But she didn't care. She practically melted into him, barely felt his hands on her waist, hardly aware of her hands resting on his shoulders. It was perfection of the sort that only exists in dreams.

_Dreams._

Vanille rememebered the past few dreams she'd shared with Hope, and pulled away.

Another thing she didn't notice: the laughter stopped.

The looks on their faces made her cheeks burn with embarassment. Only because they all looked amused.

"Well," Snow said jokingly, "I guess we know who to separate tonight."

* * *

They did indeed sleep separately that night. Not because anyone told them to, but because Hope refused to sleep.

Through all these years, Serah was the only one who never gave up on him. Though she knew him the least, the believed in him the most. No matter how much time passed, there was always a room for Hope in her house. Her insistance on keeping a place for him caused her to come to blows with her sister on several occasions. Lightning was the first to give up. "He's never coming back!" She'd say, "He's dead!"

Serah almost believed that she believed what she was saying.

Her sister might've given up on ever seeing him again, but Serah didn't think she really believed he was dead.

Hope's place in Serah's home stayed.

And that's where Vanille slept that night.

While Hope was deeply touched that Serah had always kept a place for him, there was _no way_ he was sleeping. Not here. So he offered to sleep on the couch, saying that, "Vanille can have the bed. I've slept on worse things than a couch."

But did he actually sleep that night?

No.

Hope sat up on the couch, appearing to stare at the wall. But he actually didn't see anything. He just sat, thinking about everything, yet nothing at all.

He thought about his brand. What was that about? Why was it back? Burned, twisted, inactive. And who was that voice that kept talking to him? Calling him _l'Cie_. Maybe? Could it be?

He shook his head. He did not want to embrace that possibility.

Home. He was _home_. Everyone was back, and together. That's what he wanted, what he'd been working for.

But was it worth it? In the end, it probably was. But they didn't even know how Fang and Vanille were released. They probably would have come back no matter what he did. And if that was the case, all the people he hurt, all the pain he caused, all of that was for nothing. Not that he did any of that on purpose.

This topic was painful.

He wished he could turn off his brain. No matter what he did, his thoughts turned sour.

He was almost considering just giving in and going to sleep when he heard light footsteps. He looked up to see Vanille standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of Serah's pyjamas. Lucky they were roughly the same size. It was odd to see her in something other than her Oerban clothes. "Hi." she said sheepishly.

"Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head, and quietly walked over to the couch, sitting beside him, "I guess... I guess I was afraid. I didn't want to..." She shrunk back into the couch.

"I understand." He mumbled.

He worked his arm around her, and she curled into his chest. They lay like that for a while, not speaking. They listened to each other breathe, the only noise in the house.

After a while, Vanille's breathing became uneven, hitching every once and a while. Her body shook. She was crying.

"Are you okay?" Hope whispered.

"Yeah, I just-" She sniffed, "I was just thinking."

"About what?" He mumbled, taking her hand and giving it a little squeeze.

She squeezed back, "Nothing... Everything. The past couple days have just..." She buried her face into him.

"A lot's happened." Hope agreed, "But not all of it has been bad." He began to trace little circles on her hand with his thumb, "I got you back."

"You also got your brand back." She said quietly.

"You don't need to worry about that." He told her, "You've gotten another chance at life, why don't you think about it like that?"

"What kind of chance is it if you-" She began to shake again, "What if we're wrong? What if you _do_ have a Focus? What if-?" A sob cuts her off.

Hope pulled her closer and let her cry. Her small frame shook with every breath, she soaked her face and his shirt with tears. This whole thing, his brand, really scared her.

"I just don't want to lose you." She sobbed.

"You won't." He assured her.

"How can you know?"

He didn't give her an answer.

Because he didn't have one.


	26. Sleepless

Serah woke early that morning. The excitement from the day before made it almost impossible for her to sleep, and even when she eventually did sleep, images of her long lost friends crept into her dreams.

The sun had not yet risen when she opened her eyes. Sleep still sounded fantastic, but Snow's snores kept her from returning there. After a short struggle to fall back asleep, she decided to just get up.

Sleepily making her way downstairs, she couldn't keep her thoughts from wondering to what had just happened. Everyone was home. All in one day, _everyone came home. _Claire and Hope were _alive_. Fang and Vanille woke up. They were a family again.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she stopped. Through the doorway to her right, she could see Hope and Vanille on the couch. Vanille was curled into Hope, sleeping silently. Hope on the other hand, was awake and just staring.

Serah stepped through the doorway, "Is it safe to assume you didn't sleep at all?"

When Hope saw her, he stiffened. There was a flash of fear in his eyes. It was only there for a moment, because he blinked, and the fear was replaced with confusion. His body slowly relaxed.

"Hope... are you okay?" Serah asked.

"I-yeah." He blinked again, "And, no, I didn't sleep."

Serah moved to a chair and sat down, "Why not?"

Hope sighed, "Well, remember those dreams I told you about?"

His dreams. How could she forget? Easy: she didn't. She'd never forget the night he told her...

* * *

_It had been about a year. Since it all happened, everyone's lives had been constantly subject to the whims of change. Each day was different. Some good. Some bad. But almost all were a new experience. The citizens of Cocoon had to rebuild their society from the bottom, and as such, chaos became the new norm. Life was especially hard for the ex-l'Cie. Even though they had proved to the world that they weren't l'Cie anymore, even going as far as letting an 'expert' search them for their brands, they still weren't trusted. Most everything they did, they had to do on their own. _

_Serah hadn't had a decent sleep since she was crystal, and that night was no exception. Yet again, she awoke in the middle of the night for no reason. She groaned; sleep was going to be impossible now that she was awake. Since this had happened many, _many_ times before, she knew the best way to deal with it was to not deal with it. So she decided to get up and eat something._

_On the way to the kitchen, she passed Hope's room. The poor kid's dad was, unfortunately, not one of the survivors, so he'd been living with her and Snow. As she passed his room, she heard what sounded like moaning._

_She stopped just outside his door, and listened. Sure enough, she heard it again._

_Serah gently pushed open his door. Even though it was dark, she could see that the teen was tangled in his sheets, moaning, covered in a sheet of cold sweat. He tossed and turned._

_Nightmare._

_Serah felt bad for him. His life had been turned completely upside down, ever since... She didn't want to leave him alone, so she pulled his desk chair up by his bed. _

_Soon after she did so, he woke up. He sat up so fast she could've sworn she felt a breeze. He covered his face with his hands and burst into tears. Serah just about cried herself. She stood and sat next to him on the bed, pulling him into a hug. He jumped a little, but accepted the hug. _

_"It's okay." Serah whispered, "It was just a dream."_

_"No..." Hope sobbed, "No it-" He just shook his head. _

_It took Hope a while to calm down. There were times when it seemed like he was calm, but then his tears would start all over again. It broke Serah's heart. She didn't know him as well as Claire, or Snow, or Sazh, but she still didn't like to see him upset._

_He did calm down though. When he did, Serah asked gently, "Do you wanna talk about it?"_

_Hope pulled away a bit and twisted his hands into his blanket, over and over, "I..."_

_"It's okay, I'm not going to force you."_

_"No, I... I want to. I just..." He trailed off, "I..." He sighed, "I saw Vanille die."_

_"You know she's _not_."_

_"Yeah, I know, but... I mean... I literally saw her die. In my dream, I-" He swallowed, "Someone killed her. I watched them kill her. I couldn't do anything!" He buried his face in his hands, "I failed her... again."_

_"Again?" _

_"This, uh, isn't the first time."_

_He sounded almost... guilty. "Hope," Serah said, "how long have you been having these dreams?"_

_Hope looked away, "Ever since... you know."_

_"You've been having these dreams for a year? And you never said anything?"_

_"Does it really matter? I can handle it."_

_"I never said you couldn't." Serah said softly, "But we care about you, Hope. If you're hurting, we want to help."_

_Tears began to build in his eyes again, "I just-I miss her. The least I could do is protect her. But... I keep failing!" He twisted his hands in his blanket again, "She cries out to me. She needs my help. She-she can't get out on her own. But I can't move. As hard as I try, I can't move. I can't help her." A few tears spilled over, "She dies, because of me."_

_Serah placed a hand on his shoulder, to comfort him. But he turned away, "Just... don't tell Light, okay? Or anyone."_

_As much as she didn't agree, "Okay, I won't. I promise."_

* * *

"Yes." Serah whispered, "I remember."

"Well, they didn't stop. And... they got worse. I don't just toss and turn anymore."

Serah didn't want to think about that. He'd been watching Vanille die for _six hundred years_. That's... horrible. When he told her that his dreams didn't stop, the look in his eyes... She could almost feel all the pain he felt. All the helplessness, the guilt. There had to be a reason for his dreams, but what? What could he have done to deserve that?

"So, I didn't sleep."

"I don't blame you."

She didn't want to cause him more pain, but thinking about how long he'd been dreaming, made her think about how long he'd been gone. He never even told anyone he was leaving. They just came home one day, and he was gone. So... so she asked him something that had been on her heart for centuries.

"Hope?"

"Yeah?"

"Um..." Serah looked down at her feet, "Why-why did you leave us?"

Hope didn't seem to mind the question. He looked down at Vanille and answered, "Vanille. I left for her. I love her Serah. More than even I know."

* * *

**Stupid fraking writer's block... Etro, why do you hate me so!? But it's all good now.**


	27. Broken Wrist

**Author's Note:** Soooo sorry about the wait guys! And now, an informative flashback!

* * *

_It hit him, over and over. The pain was unbearable. Vanille, he'd never see her again. _

_If only he could die. If he could die, all of this would be over. He wouldn't have to miss her anymore, he wouldn't hurt. But most of all, he wouldn't dream. The dreams made everything worse. Though he hadn't slept since the coma, he couldn't get the images out of his head. He had to watch her as she drowned, as she burned, as a knife pierced the flesh above her heart, as countless other things took the life of his best friend._

_The life of the girl he loved. _

_When exactly he realized he was in love with her was unknown to him. As for why; he'd been watching her die for the past twenty years, every night, over and over. Each night, his useless attempts to be free, to help her, meant nothing. All he wanted was to take her place. _

_He clutched his head in his hands. If only he could take her place. She deserved life more than he did. It would be a welcome relief, to die. _

_A deep growl came from behind him. He'd forgotten about the animals that roamed here. Who cares. If he was attacked, the physical pain would be a distraction._

_Another growl. Closer this time. He turned. The three-inch fangs and bright yellow eyes didn't scare him, not anymore. _

_For some reason, when the creature pounced, he threw up his arms to defend himself._

* * *

_"We almost lost you, Hope. But seeing as you got out of that with only a broken wrist, I don't know why. Or how you healed so fast."_

_Hope held his left wrist in his hand. It was broken two days ago. It healed within twelve hours, during which time he nearly died twice. This was different than last time he was injured. Last time, he slipped into a coma for a week, this time, his heart stopped, he stopped breathing. He actually almost _died_. _

_"I don't understand either. But I think I have a theory."_

_"What would that be?"_

_Hope turned to the man sitting next to him, "Can I trust you, Buck?"_

_"Of course."_

_"You have to swear not to speak a word of this. To anyone."_

_"Hope, what-"_

_"On your life, Buck."_

_Buck's face decided on a serious expression, "Hope, I swear on my life, and the lives of my wife and daughter, not to speak a word. You can trust me."_

_Hope believed him. He stared down at his wrist, "Twenty years ago, I was a l'Cie..."_

* * *

"I never stopped looking for a way to bring her back." Hope looked back up at Serah, "But I also never stopped regretting what I did. Serah, I hope you know that I never meant to hurt any of you. I just... couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something."

"Why didn't you just tell us, Hope? We could've helped. We all missed Vanille too."

He sighed, "I didn't tell you because you would've stopped me from trying."

"Why would you say that?"

"We talked about it, remember? When I was sixteen. We all decided to visit the pillar, to say a final goodbye. Light said that their job was too big, they would never be free. The rest of you agreed with her, that it was impossible. So you said your goodbyes."

"I remember..." Serah whispered.

"I didn't say goodbye. That day, I made her a promise. I told her I'd bring her back, no matter what."

"And you kept your promise."

Hope chuckled, "Actually, I didn't do anything."

"You tried. Maybe the fal'Cie decided to let you stop suffering, and start living."

"I only got a few hours, then I woke up with my brand." Hope scoffed, "The fal'Cie never did anything for me."

"Well they did something for me." Serah said, "They gave me a wonderful friend. A friend who would do anything for someone he loves. He might've hurt me, but I love him all the same."


	28. His Family

"We all do." Snow added as he entered the room. He looked Hope dead in the eye, "Even though he made mistakes."

"If I could fix those, I would."

"I believe it." Snow took a seat, "Listen, Hope. I'm sorry I blew up at you yesterday. I just couldn't believe you left us like that. And then you just showed up with Light, and..."

Hope just shook his head, "It's alright, Snow. I deserved it."

"No you didn't. You brought her back." He looked at the delicate girl curled into Hope, still sleeping. "You brought them back."

"I really can't take credit for that."

"Well, that's what you set out to do, right?"

"Yes."

"Then in my book, it's all you."

Hope chuckled.

* * *

Voices. People talking. What time was it? Fang groaned. She swore the walls in the house were made out of paper.

What _actually_ woke her up was the sound of footsteps tromping down the stairs. Probably Snow. But what kept her awake were the voices. Not that they were loud. It was more like having a bug buzzing in her ear.

Fang gave up on sleeping. She sat up, stretched, and grumbled a bit as she left the room.

Just down the stairs were Snow, Serah, and Hope. So they were the bugs.

"Morning, Sunshine." Snow teased.

"Stuff it." Fang replied, taking the only unoccupied chair.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"No, it was you and your big feet. Isn't it a little early for you to be so stupid?"

"Guys, cut it out." Serah scolded.

Hope smiled, "Just like old times, huh, Snow?"

"Too true."

Just then, Vanille stirred. Her eyes fluttered a little but she didn't bother to open them entirely. "Hope?" she breathed.

"Hey." Hope said softly, "Have any dreams?"

Vanille shook her head, "Nope." she mumbled sleepily.

Completely ruining the moment, Snow's stomach growled. Serah laughed, "Guess it's time for breakfast."

* * *

That day, they all decided to forget about everything. Forget about the past, forget about the things they weren't proud of. They decided to just be _happy, _to be _together._ Their family had been torn for too many years. It was time to fix it.

The Seaside City of New Bodhum just happened, in all irony*, to be by the sea. It was beautiful outside, as it usually was, so swimming seemed like the perfect activity.

"Snow, stop!" Serah cried.

The large man just laughed and threw her in the ocean, then jumped in himself. Serah surfaced, then waited for Snow. As soon as he came up, she tackled him. (as best she could, anyway)

"Ahh!" Snow shouted, allowing himself to be dunked.

Hope and the others laughed. Even harder when Chase ran in the water, determined to save his dad from drowning. As he got closer, he decided it would be more fun to help his mom.

"Save me!" Snow was now being attacked by both his wife and son.

Fang jumped in... to help Serah.

"Aw, come on!"

Fang just laughed and dunked him.

Vanille was gasping for oxygen she was laughing so hard. Hope just watched her. She was so beautiful. Especially when she smiled. It was such a relief to see her happy and alive, instead of dying and in pain. Sometimes he had to force himself to remember that the real her had never been that way, that she never actually died. When he was sane, he took comfort in the fact that she was safe. When he wasn't, he spent every waking moment trying to get her blood off of him, believing she was right there, in front of him. Now that she was here, he would _never_ let anything happen to her again.

When she stopped laughing, she noticed that he was staring at her. "Something on your mind?" She asked with a smile.

Hope chuckled, understanding the reference. "You." He answered honestly.

Vanille blushed.

"Hey, hey!" Sazh called, walking up with Dajh, "Did we miss anything?"

Fang dragged herself back on land, "Just Snow drowning."

"Hey! You were the one attacking me!"

"You shouldn't argue with Fang, Snow." Dajh teased.

Fang laughed, then looked him over, "Well, you sure have changed."

He did. Like Hope, Dajh had continued to age. He was still the youngest though. He was stuck at eighteen. He had lost his childish features, and his voice had deepened. Not to mention how tall he was now. But under all that change, he was still Dajh.

"Hey, guys!" Serah said happily, coming back to shore with Chase.

"Where's Soldier Girl?" Sazh asked.

"She's inside. She said her head hurt, so she's sleeping."

"Huh..."

"Sazh!" Chase cried, running up to his favorite uncle.

"Hey, kiddo! How are you?" Sazh went to pick up the child. Hope saw a flash. It looked like a knife.

_Why does Sazh have a knife?_

But then it was gone.

Hope shook his head, confused.

"What?" Vanille asked.

"Nothing."

Maybe it was nothing, maybe it wasn't. But something was for sure.

This wasn't the first time he'd seen something that wasn't there.

* * *

_Serah stepped through the doorway, "Is it safe to assume you didn't sleep at all?"_

_When Hope saw her, he stiffened. A knife. Serah had a knife. Why did she have a knife? Before he could think further, he blinked, and it was gone._

* * *

"Daddy was drowning!"

"He was?"

"Only because this little guy-" Snow ruffled his son's hair, "-wouldn't let me up."

Chase just laughed.

**_"This family, won't be safe for much longer."_**

That voice. It was that voice again. The voice from his dreams.

"Hope, are you okay?"

Serah was looking at him oddly. In fact, everyone was. His family. They weren't safe. His only clue was that voice, but something made him believe it. Something was threatening his family.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun! Any clues guys? Any theories? I'd like to know if any of you have figured it out, so if you could just express your thoughts in a review, that would be fantastic! :)**

***total sarcasm by the way**


	29. This Is Real

**Author's Note:** Ok, so apparently I'm not very subtle with my clues, lol. Oh well. Anyway, yes, it is a fal'Cie. But what is he doing in Hope's mind? Stay tuned and find out!

On a sadder note: This fic will be over in a few more chapters. I know, I'm sad too. :'(

On a happier note: Here's the next chapter! I finished it early and just couldn't wait, so here it is!

Stepping back a few seconds...

* * *

"Hope, are you okay?"

Serah was looking at him oddly. In fact, everyone was. His family. They weren't safe. His only clue was that voice, but something made him believe it. something was threatening his family.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine." Hope stood, "I'm going inside."

* * *

Hope found Lightning in the kitchen, peeling the skin off of a fruit with her fingers.

"I knew you weren't actually sleeping." he said.

Lightning turned her head, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Hope walked over to her and grabbed a fruit from the basket, "Claire Farron doesn't nap."

"Tsk." She elbowed him, "Don't call me that."

Hope just chuckled. He tossed the fruit in the air. Caught it. "Why are you in here?"

Lightning took a bite from her fruit, "I needed space. To think."

"About what?"

"I can't remember much lately. It's little things mostly, but..." She turned to Hope, "Why are _you_ in here?"

"Would it be too much of a coincidence to say that I needed to think too?"

"Maybe."

Hope tossed the fruit again. He rolled it in his fingers, "What kind of things can't you remember?"

Lightning sighed, "Things like, my favorite color, my favorite food. Little stuff." She studied her fruit, "And then there's bigger things. I didn't remember the last time I saw my sister. I still don't. I didn't remember Chase. At all. I-" She took a breath, "I don't remember much past when I... gave up on you. I don't know what's wrong with me."

This was hurting her, he could see it. Not being able to remember, it was driving her crazy.

So he changed the subject, "Can't be half as bad as whatever the hell is wrong with me." He placed his fruit back in the basket.

"Really? Then what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I've uh... been seeing things. Hearing things."

"What kinds of things, Hope?"

Hope stared out the window at a bird's nest, "You know that night, the one where I got my brand back?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

The mother bird flew to the nest. "I had a dream that night."

"You mean-?"

"No. No. In this one, you, Fang, Vanille... You all died." He shuddered at the memory, "A voice spoke to me. I don't remember what it said, but I've been hearing it lately."

"What does it say to you?"

"That none of you are safe."

That statement was met with silence. But they both thought about it. Hope tried to figure out what could possibly be threatening them. And what he came up with, would certainly be able to do the job. Lightning on the other hand, well, she wasn't necessarily doubting that Hope heard the voice, but she was doubting the believability of the words.

"Do you believe it?"

"The voice?" Hope slid to the ground, "Yeah, I-I do."

Lightning joined him, "Well, that's enough for me. Have you told anyone else?"

"No."

"Then maybe you should."

"But what if this is just all in my head? I don't want to worry the others for no reason."

"Do you really want to take that chance?"

Hope sighed. She was right. She usually was.

"Alright, I'll tell them. But not until later, I don't want to spoil their fun."

"Good boy." Lightning got up, dragging him with her, "Come on, let's go swim. I think we've both napped enough for now."

* * *

A short time after Hope and Lightning went back outside, everyone stopped for lunch. Well, almost everyone. Chase still wanted to play, so Hope and Dajh stayed in the water with him.

All three boys were splashing each other. Serah laughed at them and turned to her sister, "What did you say to him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, before he went inside, he looked... dead, I suppose. It looked like he wasn't really here. And then he talked to you and, well, look at him." She gestured to Hope, who was letting the two younger boys dunk him, "Now he's fine."

And he was. He was laughing, playing, fine by any standards. But Lightning knew the odds were pretty high that he was thinking about what they had just discussed. She certainly was.

She shrugged, "I didn't say anything, really. We just talked." Which was true. Technically.

"Well, you must've said something."

"I guess."

Just then, Hope brought a certain four-year-old back to shore, with Dajh trailing behind. Chase ran straight for the sandwiches, and Hope sat by Vanille.

"Hey." he said.

She scooted over a bit, he was dripping on her, "Hey."

Smirking, Hope shook his head like a dog, spraying her with ocean water. Vanille squealed and shoved him over, "What was that for!?"

"For not swimming." Hope shook his head again, just once, to get hair out of his face, "Are you still worried? You know you can't drown."

"Yeah, I know, but... it's just one of those things."

"I get it." Hope stood, "Come swimming with me."

"What? You just said you understood!"

"I know." He held out his hand, "You said it's just one of those things, right? You can usually get over those things, and I want to help you."

Vanille stood, completely ignoring the hand he held out for her. She just pulled him down a bit and kissed him. When she pulled back she said, "I love you. So much."

* * *

"See? That wasn't so bad." Hope said to Vanille as they headed back into shallow water. They probably would've stayed in longer, but the sky was taking back the colors of the day, leaving them with the tapestry of pinks and oranges and reds, that was slowly weaving it's way along.

"No. I suppose it wasn't." Vanille smiled up at him. She wasn't so afraid anymore. She knew that, at least for a while, she'd still have that nervous knot in her stomach when she went in the water, but she'd be able to fight it now. She grabbed Hope's arm, stopping him, "Hey, Hope?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For helping me. I don't think I would ever have gotten over this without you." She was standing on a shelf of sand, and stood at about the same height as Hope, so she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I love you."

"I love you too."

They leaned in to kiss.

And that's when it happened.

All Hope meant to do was place his hands on her waist, but as he did that, he somehow brushed his hand against her thigh.

Vanille went limp.


	30. The End

**Author's Note:** Hey, guys. Did you see the new Lightning Returns trailer? OhMyEtro.

So, this is the final chapter of Connected By Dreams. *tears up* I just want to quick thank all of you who read and/or reviewed this story. It means a lot to me, and I hope you like the chapter! :)

* * *

Gone. There was nothing. No farewell, no goodbye, no final breath. She was just gone.

Vanille...

Vanille was dead.

Hope heard an agonized scream. The kind of scream that claws at hearts and secretes grief. It took him a while to realize that it was his. The next thing he heard was Fang, "What the hell happened?" she shouted.

Hope didn't answer her. He was frozen, staring at Vanille's face. Vanille was dead. How could she be dead? It just wasn't- How-?

"What HAPPENED!?" Fang repeated.

"I didn't do anything." Hope whispered, shaking his head, "I didn't do it, but I killed her. I killed her. She... she..."

Hope heard a struggle, and then Snow, "Fang..."

Sazh mumbled for Dajh to take Chase inside, and Serah knelt in front of Hope. She gently pried his fingers loose from Vanille's hand, taking his in hers, "Hope, please, can you tell me what happened?"

He was broken. He shook. "I didn't hurt her, I swear. I swear I didn't- I didn't hurt her."

A tear fell, "I believe you, but you have to tell me what happened."

Hope broke free of her grip, and clutched Vanille closer. Something was happening, Serah could see it in his face. Behind his eyes, there was a war, and both sides were fighting hard.

"I-I di- I didn't-" He shook his head, "I didn't! I… I…"

The war was over.

"I killed her." he whispered.

* * *

Lightning watched as Hope gently put Vanille down, but that was the only thing he did calmly. As soon as she was out of his hands, he stood and backed up a few steps, clutching his head, "I- _no!_"

Hope was living his worst nightmare. Not only was Vanille dead… But it looked like _he_ was the one that killed her. He kept shaking, repeating, "No, I- no!"

Serah looked at her sister, worry reaching not only her entire face, but her body as well. She backed away as Lightning stepped forward, passing Snow, who was still holding Fang back. As she passed, she glanced back at the Oerban. Fang was fighting back tears, she couldn't look away from her little sister. Lightning knew how she felt. To some extent, anyway.

She approached Hope, "Hope, I need you to calm down, okay?" she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please, talk to me."

The next thing Lightning knew, she was on her back.

* * *

Snow couldn't believe it. The kid _flipped Lightning_. He just up and flipped her! She was just lying on her back, stunned.

Snow released Fang, not thinking about the consequences. Ignoring Serah's cry of, "Snow!" and Sazh's warning, "Watch it, Trench coat!" he charged at Hope.

"That's it!" He shouted, aiming his fist straight at Hope's head. Unfortunately for him, Hope just dodged it, and kicked him in the back, almost knocking him into the ocean. Only slightly dazed, Snow recovered quickly. Turning back around, he said, "Is that how we're doing this?"

Hope stepped into his old fighting stance, "You started it."

Snow did the same, "Bring it on."

"He's stronger than you, Snow!" Lightning called, slowly sitting up.

"We'll see about that."

He aimed another punch, which Hope also dodged. But as he dodged this one, Snow swung his other fist, connecting it with Hope's jaw. The kid's head was whipped to the side, but he didn't stagger at all. He just chuckled. Spitting blood out of his mouth, he said, "Nice shot." Quick as a flash, he grabbed Snow by the throat, "But not good enough." With almost no effort, Hope threw the larger man to the side, who landed on Sazh. Both men groaned, and didn't move. Serah ran to them.

* * *

When Snow released her, Fang had gone to her sister. Her body was cold. It didn't seem possible that this warm young woman could be so cold. What made it worse was that she… she had a little smile on her face. She-she died happy.

Fang choked, but her anger returned fully when she saw Hope throw Snow across the beach.

She stood and screamed, "Damnit, Hope!" He turned her direction and she rushed at him, throwing punches when she got close enough. Just like back at the lake, he dodged every single one. But this time, she had no intention of going easy on him.

Vanille wasn't there to stop her this time.

"You promised!" She shouted, failing once again to hit him, failing once again to stop her tears, "You promised you wouldn't hurt her! Now look at her!" Something flickered in his eyes, and he stopped moving, allowing for her to finally land a few punches, "She's _dead_!" She felt his nose break as she punched him in the face. Good.

She pulled her hand back to punch him again, but this time he stopped her, grabbing her wrist when her hand was just a few inches from his face. His eyes flickered again, and the most horrible voice she had ever heard came out of his mouth, "**_He didn't kill her._**"

_What the hell?_

Suddenly terrified, Fang wrenched her arm free and sent a powerful kick to his chest, sending him back a few feet. The kick knocked him on his ass, but he stood almost immediately. Wiping blood from his face, he just laughed. In his own voice, he said, "That was fun. You lasted longer than Snow. Go figure. He was never very good anyway. You on the other hand, you I expected more of a challenge from. But you did good." He reached out his hand.

And everything went black.

* * *

Vanille was dead. Snow was thrown away like garbage. Fang just dropped like a rock. This was insane. This had to stop.

"Hope, stop this!" Lightning pleaded, "Don't you realize what you're doing?"

He just ignored her. He picked up Fang's limp body and placed her by Vanille. Lightning's heart jumped into her throat. Was she-?

"Don't worry, she's not dead." Hope said. He squatted down next to her and pulled out a knife. The knife he always kept in his shoe. "But I can change that."

"No!" Lightning leaped forward and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled until she finally pinned him down, "What is _wrong_ with you!? What-"

She was interrupted by laughter. He was _laughing._ But it wasn't the innocent laugh he usually had. It was terrible. Not at all belonging to the Hope she knew. There was no way. She had lost him.

This realization brought tears to her eyes, and she slapped him across the face, shutting him up. "Now you listen to me!" She shouted with all the authority she could muster, "You need to snap out of this, Hope! This isn't you!" His eyes flickered. "I know you're in there! So please-" The firm, commanding tone slithered out of her voice, "Please, just come back to me."

Hope just stared up at her. He was gone. Whatever was left of him was gone. She could see it. Those hollow, dead eyes didn't belong to her Hope. The tears fell.

"Please, Hope…"

Somehow, she had to hold on to her naive faith that he was in there.

Something entered his eyes. But it wasn't him. A horrifying voice escaped his lips.

"**_Hope? The l'Cie isn't here anymore. He's mine now._**"

Before Lightning could react, Hope, or whoever he was, reversed their positions. He now had her pinned down.

He also still had his knife.

"**_You l'Cie are all the same. Believing everything will work out for you. Well, look!_**" He gestured to Vanille and Fang, "**_I've already killed the young girl. And now you will join her in endless, dreamless sleep._**"

He raised the knife.

She was already dead inside. Why would physical death be any worse? Those words had come out of _Hope's_ mouth. Her little Hope. Hope was gone. If he killed her now, then that would never change. If he killed her now, then whatever sent him away would win. If he killed her now, the others wouldn't stand a chance.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch her own death.

* * *

Hope watched the knife fly toward Lightning's chest. Toward her brand.

_What am I doing?_

He couldn't control his own arm. The knife continued to descend. He couldn't kill Lightning, she was like a sister to him. Why would he kill her?

Something dark was controlling his arm. With some major effort on his part, he shoved it away, and stopped his arm from moving.

The knife was centimeters from Lightning's chest.

Finally in control, he tossed the knife aside, "Light, are you okay?" He asked.

She opened her eyes. Relief washed into them. Hope got off of her, pulling her up with him, and she cried a little.

Hope wiped a tear away, "Hey, Claire Farron doesn't cry either."

She shoved him, "Don't call me that." She chuckled a little, "Are you back?"

"I-"

The darkness forced its was back into his mind. '**_Don't think you can get rid of me so easily, l'Cie.'_**

"What do you want with me!" Hope shouted aloud.

Lightning backed away from him, fear clouding her eyes.

_**'I only require that you**_ **step down**_**.'** _The last two words held the command tightly, **_'My work does not concern you.'_**

Hope's brand began to glow, pain searing through his entire body. He dropped to his knees, trying in vain to make the pain stop. He faintly heard shouting. It sounded like Snow, maybe Sazh, but he didn't really care.

**_'You are mine, l'Cie! I have already disposed of the girl, just step down, and your friends will not have to suffer. It will be fast.'_**

He was going to kill them.

There was only one thing to do.

The pain slowed him down, but he had felt worse. He jerkily stood. Still not fully in control, he somehow made it to his feet.

He ran.

* * *

The End.

* * *

**I apologize if the fighting sucked...**

**I have a math problem for you guys: Se + quel = ?**


End file.
